Last week, the Pac-12 athletic directors traveled to Las Vegas to meet with the new commissioner — at their request.
George Kliavkoff, the former president of MGM’s Sports and Entertainment division, was still two weeks from officially taking charge of the conference.
But with so much on the line this summer, from College Football Playoff expansion to player compensation (i.e., name, image and likeness), the athletic directors felt there was no time to waste.
They gathered at Allegiant Stadium, the new home of the Pac-12 football championship game, and chatted for hours. They toured the stadium. They had dinner. And that was it.
There were no votes on policy issues. There was no public comment from Kliavkoff, whose tenure begins July 1, or from the conference office. There was no group statement from the athletic directors.
But despite the low-profile nature of the gathering, make no mistake: There was plenty on the line.
For the Pac-12 to thrive — for it to navigate this turbulent stretch in college sports — Kliavkoff must have a strong working relationship with the athletic directors specifically and the campuses generally.
Under outgoing commissioner Larry Scott, those relationships vacillated between cool-but-manageable and downright fractious, depending on the time, the situation and the campus in question. (Scott cast the athletic directors aside early in his tenure, ignored their institutional knowledge and never gained their full trust.)
The Hotline reached out to all 12 athletic directors last week and offered each an opportunity to comment on the meeting with Kliavkoff.
Because first impressions count.
Because the stakes were high.
And because the public record matters.
Half declined to comment or simply couldn’t make it work with their schedules, but six agreed to share their thoughts: Arizona’s Dave Heeke, Cal’s Jim Knowlton, Colorado’s Rick George, Oregon State’s Scott Barnes, Utah’s Mark Harlan and Washington State’s Pat Chun.
We began all six interviews with a version of the same question — “What stood out to you?” — and then followed the response. Many of the general sentiments were similar, but each athletic director offered a unique layer of insight into the gathering.
Their comments have been assembled below in a free-flowing, conversational manner, to give readers the most complete sense for what transpired.
We didn’t want what happened in Vegas to stay in Vegas.
(Please note: None of the quotations cited were provided to the Hotline in direct response to any others. They aren’t commenting on each other’s comments.)
Knowlton: “The first thing is that it was great to finally see everybody in person.”
Chun: “The last time we were together as an AD group was last year in Las Vegas for the basketball tournament before everything shut down, and here we are meeting again, 15 months later, in Las Vegas, with a new commissioner to start anew.”
Knowlton: “It was productive time. George is engaged, he’s excited, and he wants to be transparent — just the fact that he wanted to meet with us.”
George: “The ADs requested the meeting because we want to work with him from Day One. It was candid, it was transparent, and it got me fired up about what lies ahead.”
Chun: “The only thing I’d heard about George prior to the meeting was how nice he is, and after spending the day with him, I can see why people said that.”
Heeke: “He’s very focused on collaboration and transparency.”
Harlan: “Transparency is a big part of any successful organization, whether it’s the campuses with each other or especially the campuses with the conference office.”
Chun: “What you saw in the press conference” — when Kliavkoff was introduced on May 13 — “is who he is. There’s a warmth to him. He spends time listening.”
George: “I liked that he wants to come on our campuses and spend time meeting people.”
Harlan: “He had done his homework on us as institutions and as individuals. That jumped out to me quickly. One thing that was of particular note was that he’s anxious to get to know us (each campus) and what makes us tick.”
Barnes: “He’s very authentic. His leadership style is conducive to building trust.”
Arizona athletic director Dave Heeke says new Pac-12 commissioner George Kliavkoff is “very focused on collaboration and transparency.”
Heeke: “He has handled major entertainment and sports events and been involved in the media end. Those mega-events have a lot of stakeholders, and you have to put a deal together to make it work for everybody, connect the stakeholders to make sure everybody is successful.”
Chun: “You got a better understanding of his broad experiences, what he did with the Las Vegas Aces, what he did on the sports betting side with MGM. He does bring a unique tool belt.”
Knowlton: “He brought in some great partners to talk to us, like Bill Hornbuckle (the CEO of MGM Resorts), and we got a tour of the stadium. The Pac-12 is really looking at Las Vegas as a wonderful host for our events.”
Harlan: “That stadium is epic.”
Knowlton: “It was comfortable. It was collegial. I left the facility thinking this will be an exciting partnership.”
Barnes: “We’re all dealing with NIL and the College Football Playoff. There are a lot of heavy lifts. And as we move forward, there’s an opportunity to reset and chart a new course. We’re all talking about the same things.”
Harlan: “I was very pleased with how much he knew about the significant challenges ahead. It all ties to one another, and he sees that. We’re not going to walk with him; we’re going to run.”
Heeke: “There were 13 of us in the room, and it was all very positive. We discussed the best ways to deal with the changing landscape, what we need to do and whether need to do things differently. He’s keenly aware of college sports and understands that for certain schools to be successful, it helps the league.”
Barnes: “He has been around college sports. His son is an aspiring college basketball player. He has a real passion for it. It was all high-level conversation, but it was good to hear his perspective.”
Heeke: “There are some tremendous issues out there in terms of our strategic approach to NIL and the CFP. He has a genuine willingness to listen and not take anything for granted.”
George: “We discussed all the important items. Everybody had the ability to weigh in.”
Barnes: “He wants to reset. We’re all genuinely excited.”
George: “The fact that his start date is July 1 and he’s already after it, that was impressive.”
Harlan: “I was impressed with how quickly he grasped the issues. Any narrative that he’s just a TV distribution guy, he’s a lot more than that.”
Chun: “It was an important meeting for the ADs. We’re all in agreement that the new commissioner has to be successful. And we made a decision collectively to meet before his term started. There’s too much on the line to go through a feeling-out period. This helps to start to align us.”
George: “We’re not pausing, and he’s not pausing. This AD group is very supportive of George, and we want to work with him. I came out of the meeting very energized about the future.”
