Title: The Fall of the Pac-12: A Tale of Mismanagement and Decline
Subtitle: Once a powerhouse, the Pac-12 conference faces extinction as teams defect to other leagues
On the morning of November 12, 2011, Palo Alto, California became the center of college football as ESPN’s “College GameDay” aired from Stanford University. That night, the third-ranked Cardinal hosted the sixth-ranked Oregon Ducks in a highly anticipated matchup. The Pac-12 conference was at its peak, boasting three of the top six teams in the nation. Just a year ago, the conference had signed a record-breaking television contract. Fast forward twelve years later, and the conference finds itself on the brink of extinction—a victim of hubris, apathy, and mismanagement.
The demise of the storied Conference of Champions, which produced legendary athletes such as Bill Walton, Marcus Allen, Aaron Rodgers, and Alex Morgan, is a tale of missed opportunities and poor decision-making. In 2011, the conference broke ground on a San Francisco studio for the soon-to-launch Pac-12 Networks, a cornerstone of then-commissioner Larry Scott’s vision to rebrand the conference and elevate its national profile. However, the Pac-12 Networks’ ambitious seven-channel model failed to gain widespread distribution and fell far short of its projected revenue figures.
Scott, a former CEO of the Women’s Tennis Association, was hired in 2009 with a mandate to raise the conference’s profile and secure a more lucrative TV contract. His audacious attempt to lure Texas and Oklahoma from the Big 12 and form a 16-team conference fell through, but he successfully quadrupled the conference’s TV revenue by striking a deal with ESPN, Fox, and Comcast. Scott’s ill-advised decision to launch the Pac-12 Networks without a proven media partner like ESPN proved to be a disastrous move that haunted the conference for years to come.
While Scott bears much of the blame for the Pac-12’s decline, the conference’s presidents and university officials also share responsibility. They granted Scott unprecedented power and failed to hold him accountable for his missteps. In 2015, the Pac-12 had a deal in hand to secure distribution on DirecTV, but the presidents, led by Arizona State’s Michael Crow, rejected it. This apathetic and hands-off approach to leadership allowed the conference’s problems to fester, contributing to its current state of disarray.
Throughout the 2010s, many football programs in the Pac-12 struggled to compete at a high level, dampening the conference’s national reputation. Traditional powerhouses like USC experienced prolonged periods of dysfunction, while Oregon and Stanford saw their on-field success plateau. The conference’s failure to produce a College Football Playoff contender for six consecutive seasons, coupled with lackluster bowl performances and an exodus of elite recruits to other conferences, further eroded its standing in the college football landscape.
Scott himself became the face of the Pac-12’s woes, plagued by a string of controversies and questionable decisions. His mishandling of in-game officiating reviews, extravagant spending habits, and inability to secure a favorable TV deal tarnished his reputation and the conference’s brand. Yet, the presidents, who could have removed Scott at any point, chose to ignore the issues and allowed the conference to spiral further into turmoil.
In 2021, Scott was finally forced out, and George Kliavkoff, previously the president of entertainment and sports at MGM Resorts International, took over as commissioner. Kliavkoff inherited an extensive list of problems, including distrust among member schools, unpaid bills, and the turbulent landscape of college sports realignment.
Kliavkoff’s attempts to rectify the situation proved to be misguided. When Oklahoma and Texas left the Big 12 for the SEC, the Pac-12 had an opportunity to strengthen its position by adding strong athletic schools like TCU, Baylor, and Oklahoma State. However, the conference chose to remain stagnant instead. Kliavkoff’s decision to enter into an unproductive alliance with the ACC and Big Ten, as well as his opposition to an expanded College Football Playoff, further demonstrated a lack of strategic vision.
As the Pac-12’s problems became more apparent, talks with media partners ESPN and Fox resulted in a disappointing outcome. The Big 12, with its contract set to expire a year later than the Pac-12’s, secured lucrative extensions that put pressure on the struggling conference. Kliavkoff’s failure to secure a desirable TV deal and his mishandling of potential expansion opportunities accelerated the conference’s decline.
As the once-mighty Pac-12 faces the departure of marquee programs like USC and UCLA to the Big Ten, its future looks uncertain. The conference’s century-old legacy and its contributions to collegiate sports are at risk of being overshadowed by its own self-inflicted wounds. The story of the Pac-12’s downfall serves as a cautionary tale of how mismanagement and complacency can tarnish the reputation of even the most esteemed institutions.