George Kliavkoff thrilled to be the new Pac-12 Commissioner

After a long-anticipated search, the Pac-12 hired former MGM President of Entertainment and Sports, George Kliavkoff to become the Commissioner.

On the same day that Arizona Men’s Basketball got a new Twitter handle (@ArizonaMBB), the Pac-12 Conference also got a new Commissioner, hiring former MGM Resorts International President of Entertainment and Sports, George Kliavkoff, replacing the conferences’ long-time Commissioner Larry Scott.

While Larry’s claim to fame will be expanding the Pac-10 to the Pac-12 by adding Utah and Colorado in 2011, as well as manufacturing the Pac-12 Network, luckily for us, the Scott era is over, and it is one that will ultimately be largely criticized.

Arizona Wildcats

After 11 years, it is about time that we get a new Pac-12 Commissioner, and there are numerous reasons why folks have been calling for a change. However, the number one reason for a lot of folks was the like of exposure for the Conference. After all, despite getting the Pac-12 Network started, Scott was never able to secure a deal with DIRECTV.

Over the years, Pac-12 fans have had to beg, borrow, and steal just to watch their favorite team(s). In addition to that, the conference spent what seemed to be exorbitant amounts of money on their San Francisco headquarters, plus, the issues with officiating both in basketball and football.

We even pulled an April Fools joke on Wildcats fans that still seems pretty believable.

Plus, how can we forget the infamous Sean Miller press conference, where the “He touched the ball?” slogan began.

Yes, this all happened under Scott, and Miller was even fined for his criticisms of the refs when in actuality he was right. The officials were instructed to “T” up Miller during the game in the Pac-12 Tournament against UCLA back on March 15, 2013, sparking a lot of mistrust with the conferences’ officiating.

Well, Pac-12 fans can now wipe our collective brows because it seems like the new sheriff in town has a ton of experience. He also just happened to be on the other end of Pac-12 deals Scott made regarding Pac-12 Men’s and Women’s Basketball Tournaments held in Vegas.

For those that don’t know, George managed the Conference Basketball Tournaments and has helped move the Football Conference championship game to Allegiant Stadium in Vegas for ’21 and ’22.

Just 54, Kliavkoff, pronounced Klēē-ãv-cough, ran MGM Resorts for the past two years and inked a five-year deal with the Conference beginning July 1, 2021, after a unanimous vote of all the Pac-12 presidents and chancellors.

A graduate of both the University of Virginia and Boston University, Kliavkoff was student-athlete in Rowing, and here is his statement from the Pac-12 press release:

“I am thrilled to be the Pac-12 Commissioner. This is a challenging time for intercollegiate athletics, but I believe these challenges also create significant opportunities,” Kliavkoff said. “I loved being a student-athlete, and I’m passionate about the doors that college sports and higher education open for young women and men. My job at the Pac-12 will be to help manage the balance between continued academic excellence, student-athlete well-being, and an even higher level of athletic achievement.”

If you think he’s going to move the headquarters out of San Francisco, it won’t be immediate if ever as he said Thursday as he and his family will relocate to San Francisco.

So what does George have planned for the Conference? Well, according to Sporting News, here are a few things he wants to do:

• Win NCAA Championships in major sports such as football and basketball, “Our greatest weakness, if we’re honest with ourselves, is the number of years it’s been since we’ve won a football or men’s basketball championship.”
• Fight for the expansion of Football which helps Arizona and others have more of a chance to get into the playoffs, “I want to go on the record that the Pac-12 is in favor of both the expansion of the College Football Playoff from four teams.”
• Support student-athletes in making some money, “Implementation of consistent guidelines for name, image, and likeness.”
• Call for help from the conference’s “Silicon Valley friends” and all the Pac-12 Conference AD’s on structural changes needed with recruiting. “I believe it’s not good for college football — and for the vast majority of college football fans — when 20 of the 28 CFP bids — 71 percent — go to just four schools.” He wants to get more football interest for all the teams in the Pac-12 conference, not just rest on USC, Oregon, Washington, and Stanford’s laurels.
• Structurally “Address non-conference and conference scheduling, game times and any other competitive decisions at the conference level.”
• And everything else, “Everything is up for review.”

What we would like to add a few more goals:

• Realistic game times.
• More exposure for the Conference by getting the Pac-12 channels on DIRECTV or more streaming services.
• Having better and more consistent officiating.

Bill Bender of the Sporting News said it best, “For the Pac-12, July 1 cannot come soon enough.”