Kliavkoff In Hindsight

[Notalot]

I remember feeling happy  with the hire of George Kliavkoff as Pac12 Commisioner. A skilled marketer, fresh insights with media and contracts experience he seemed like fresh air.

 

Today I look back at where things are now and how the landscape of CFB has changed.

 

I wonder if the hire of a veteran football administrator, someone with many longtime friends and contacts, might have been a better choice for the Pac?

 

Deep longtime college football contacts, along with contracting and league media agreements might prove to be fire in today's dilemmas and environment.

 

Hindsight.

 

[Jon Joseph]

I agree Not. What might have been perfect would have been to hire now consultant Jim Delaney as an interim commissioner. At least until a new media deal was concluded. 

 

And Jim likely would have gotten a heads up on SC and UCLA heading to the B1G and may have been able to cut the move off at the pass.

 

Hiring media-oriented folk as your commissioner, see the B1G and B12, seems to be the trend today but I am not certain that it is a viable strategy.

 

Why the B1G with a huge media deal in place needed a guy with no college football experience I have no idea. 

 

Former B12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby, a football guy including having served as the AD at Kansas and Stanford, saved the B12 (although USC president Carol Folt probably did more to save the B12) by astutely adding BYU, Cincinnati, Houston, and UCF. And the new B12 commissioner appears to have made a solid move starting the B12's new media negotiations ahead of the always seemingly at least one step behind Pac-12/10. But I think the new guy's mouth is writing checks the conference can't cash.

 

One wonders if any Pac-10 commissioner can succeed considering the folks he is reporting to. Many of them have no idea that they are running a big business and not the Ivy League.

[Drake]

Perhaps the demise of the PAC is inevitable after losing the LA media market. I certainly don’t know. TV contracts pay the bills, and Oregon will need to do what is best for them for the long haul.
 

The wait and see game is full of rumors, and unless you have a seat at the negotiating table, it is difficult to have a clear picture of the future. 

Oregon has contacts in sports and media, either directly, or indirectly (Phil Knight, and other key people). I would be more worried if I was a fan of some of the other colleges in the PAC trying to continue to compete at a high level.

[The Kamikaze Kid]

On 5/17/2023 at 9:21 AM, Jon Joseph said:

One wonders if any Pac-10 commissioner can succeed considering the folks he is reporting to. Many of them have no idea that they are running a big business and not the Ivy League.

100% Jon. The Pac's biggest problem begins and ends with this statement which is why I see no positive outcomes on the horizon. To me the answer would be bring in SD St and UNLV now. Get whatever deal you can now and go after the B12 Texas schools for the next contract cycle, Locking up SoCal, the southwest and Texas would give you as solid of media rights footing you could ask for and could be achievable. But just knowing that these schools don't have that Ivy league vibe kills this direction before it even starts.

[Haywarduck]

Not sure, but from where I sit it doesn't look good.

[anyotherduck]

In GK's case "hindsight" ended when USC and UCLA left the PAC.

[The Kamikaze Kid]

At this point, I'd just like somebody to get the Pac presidents on record as to what their goal even is. If the true goal is to maintain their self image as the Ivy league of the west, then it would save us all the trouble of hoping for a positive outcome by sticking together.At that point "Conference of Champions" will simply mean gymnastics, la cross and tennis trophies.

 

If they actually want big three sports relevance and the revenue that comes with it, then they should be pursuing expansion ASAP without looking down on any school that could help them achieve those goals. I see a glaring fork in this road. Lip service to achieving both goals will just end up find them achieving neither.

 

I believe this is why GK is in an impossible negotiating position and no new news has developed in months.

[Rufus]

I don’t think any commissioner could have prevented USC and UCLA from jumping ship.  That was out of GK’s control.  
 

What is under GK’s control is his reaction to the fallout and I have been disappointed in everything that has happened since.  GK lost control of the messaging and made critical mistakes. How many of those mistakes were his vs. the conference presidents and athletic directors, that is up for debate.  
 

The PAC could have signed a media rights deal with ESPN equal to the Big 12 deal last fall and chose not to under the assumption the PAC was worth more. Now, we will be lucky to even end up with a deal equal or close to the Big 12. 
 

The PAC could have aggressively pursued expansion last fall. Instead, GK ranted about UCLA losing money (yeah right) in the B1G and hoped for an unrealistic outcome of the California BOR preventing UCLA from moving to the B1G.  Several months were wasted on that. Not once did I think UCLA was staying in the PAC. 
 

Meanwhile a narrative formed nationwide regarding the PAC.  Unprecedented negative media coverage.  We are only 1.5 months from the one year anniversary of USC and UCLA announcing their move to the B1G.  GK still has not gained control of the narrative.  

[HappyToBeADuck]

Lots of great comments and emotion filled comments on the thread. I truly enjoy reading and contemplating all the information presented.

 

If we believe the WSU President then the deal is done with a network who is currently processing heavy layoffs. And that the timing is off because of optics or social image. That makes sense. Hey we are cutting high salaried talent and both blue and white collared workers because of the economy. However,we are signing a 1.5 billion dollar 5 year deal with the PAC.

 

If its true then i get it. Let's say we think that network is ESPN. We dont really know for sure.  The best money producing thing the executives could do (short of the NFL) is lock up a deal with a conference for their college football inventory. A sports network makes money by providing high valued content.

 

A conference with 6-Top 25 schools should be considered high value content?

 

If the deal is done and that network is waiting to sign then it stands to reason that this is the Tier 1 rights holder. Any announcement of 2nd tier and ancillary partners would come after that.

 

My sweet Father and knuckleheaded brother were outstanding negotiators. From the time I could understand what Pops did (1958) until my brother retired in 2020, well there was always a negotiation going on.

 

They both talked about staying focused and on task. Blocking out the bluster, table pounding and outside noise. And that nothing said or presented mattered until the 5 minutes before the hand shake.

 

That last 5 minutes was crunch time and one side or the other was emotionally done. They had no more resolve. Then nothing from that point was said, in public, until the deal was signed. Consider that no one in the know is saying anything at all. That silence may be a good thing.

 

What faze these negotiations are at is clearly unknown to all of us. But neither side is really saying anything.

 

My Father said the key in any negotistion was patience thru the process. He said you cant control who is sitting across from you. Nor can you control their bad behaviour. You could control yourself and wait patiently until you reached their breaking point. Then, and only then does the deal get done because there is nothing left to negotiate.

 

I am a very impatient person. That is why I never won an arguement with my Father....i sure miss him

 

Patience, patience and more patience may be needed by all...

[chrisjenn99]

On 5/17/2023 at 11:21 AM, Jon Joseph said:

I agree Not.

I thought you were channeling your inner Yoda for a second.