George Kliavkoff offers latest update on Pac-12 media deal: 'Patience will be rewarded'
George Kliavkoff offered the latest comments on the Pac-12 media deal at the Media Day event on Friday in Las Vegas.
“We’re on track to announce our deals at about the same time everyone would have anticipated and predicted” had USC and UCLA not left the conference, Kliavkoff said. “Patience will be rewarded.”
Kliavkoff was asked about a miscommunication with membership since Pac-12 presidents since February have said that a deal was “coming soon.”
“We constantly update our Board, I think they’re enthusiastic like I am about the media deal,” Kliavkoff said. “But I will tell you what we’ve seen is that the longer we wait for the media deal, the better our options get, and I think our Board realizes that. There’s an underlying shift in the media market that’s happening and we’re long-term taking advantage of that, but short term it may have provided some hiccups.”
A report earlier in the week echoed Kliavkoff’s comments, as there appears to be negotiations with companies that weren’t at the table 6 months ago.