Colorado’s departure looks bad, especially for Pac-12 commissioner George Kliavkoff, counting as yet another body blow for a conference that has taken repeated hits over the past 13 months.
Jon Wilner If a school participates in a conference for 12 years, wins no major championships, churns through five football coaches, then decides to leave, was it really ever there?Colorado’s strange journey from the Big 12 to the Pac-12 and back to the Big 12 — the move became official Thursday — reflects the school’s unique geography and dynamics.
But Colorado’s departure looks bad, especially for commissioner George Kliavkoff, and counts as yet another body blow for a conference that has taken repeated hits over the past 13 months. In conference realignment, everyone’s together until they aren’t and nothing matters without a signature. Kliavkoff has yet to secure signatures because he hasn’t finalized a media deal to present to the presidents.Of the 10 current members, Colorado is the only school the Pac-12 can lose in the realignment game without triggering either mass panic or a rush to the door that decimates the league.Arizona and Arizona State could be a package deal.
The timing of Colorado’s departure is a bit odd in that chancellor Phil DiStefano was willing to wait more than a year for Kliavkoff to present a media rights deal, but not a few more weeks? The conference waited through a 90-day exclusive negotiating window with ESPN and Fox last fall, then took its media rights to market, then held firm through a difficult macro environment for any potential partners and, finally, in the past six weeks, has experienced an uptick in demand for its inventory.
Meanwhile, Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark took the opposite tact, locking down an agreement with ESPN and Fox last fall .One president, DiStefano, took the option. Could others follow?
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