George Kliavkoff and Pac-4 remains unfazed with new plans to expand and secure Apple media deal ahead of potential AAC merger: Reports

George Kliavkoff, the commissioner of the Pac-12, aka the Pac-4, is taking the next steps to keep the conference alive, and it includes talking to Apple.

The Pac-12 has seen eight different teams leave the conference, including six quite recently. Many wonder if the conference will survive, but now it appears Kliavkoff is set for multiple meetings to set up the Pac-12 to remain a premier conference in college sports.

According to CFB insider MHver3, the Pac-4 is set to meet with the Mountain West Conference to discuss a merger. That also won't be the only meeting Klivakoff and the conference have.

"PAC4 meeting w/MWC tomorrow for merger discussions then immediately meeting with Apple and a few AAC schools to discuss expansion. Again, all options are on the table, but their preference is to expand and continue on."

On paper, merging with the MWC does make a lot of sense for the conference, which is down to just four teams.

However, more importantly, it does seem like the Pac-4 will continue to work on securing the media rights deal with Apple, which was agreed to before six teams left the conference.

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Is the Apple deal good for Pac-4?

Commissioner George Kliavkoff was in a tough spot of having to negotiate a brand-new media rights deal amidst schools leaving the conference.

Hence, the deal took a lot longer to come to fruition for the conference, leaving many wondering why it was taking so long. However, Kliavkoff was adamant that the deal would be a good one for the conference.

"I will tell you what we've seen is that the longer we wait for our media deal, the better our options get," Kliavkoff said.

"I think our board realizes that. There's an underlying shift in the media market that's happening. We're long-term taking advantage of that. But short term, it may have provided some hiccups."

Unfortnately, the media rights deal ended up mostly being streaming on Apple and would pay each school around $23 million per year. That's noticeably less than the $30 million+ all Pac-12 schools are getting from ESPN and Fox, a deal that ends next July.

However, the good news for many college football fans is that the Pac-12 and George Kliavkoff appear focused on keeping the historic conference afloat.