This potential Pac-12 media rights partner is something to keep an ION

Pac-12 could look to remain linear by securing a media rights deal with someone like ION.

Although the Pac-12 could still partner up with Apple TV in its next media rights deal, there is another potential partner emerging to at least keep an ION.

Brett McMurphy of The Action Network reported on Friday afternoon that ION was a candidate to secure the conference’s media rights. Apple is still very much in play, but nothing formal has been drawn up so far. ION is owned by the E.W. Scripps Company. It owns 61 local TV stations nationwide and launched Scripps Sports earlier this year. At the very least, ION is still linear TV…

If you are not getting major Jefferson Pilot vibes with ION being a potential partner, hold my corn!

Not long after McMurphy’s bombshell of a tweet, Stewart Mandel of The Athletic refuted all this.

Either way, this is not a good look for the Pac-12 in the slightest. How did we even get here, man?

ION has reportedly entered the fray of securing Pac-12’s media rights deal

While there is nothing wrong with Scripps wanting to get into the live sports space, it is truly depressing how little value the Pac-12 is commanding on the open market. Not only have they not put pen to paper with a streaming leader like Apple, but major broadcasting companies like CBS, Disney, FOX and NBC all seem to have said, “no, thank you”. The conference may not survive this.

The Pac-12 must secure a media rights deal to stay alive. To help do that, it may need to add a better offering than the 10-team league it is presenting. Not having USC or UCLA as part of the equation has been brutal. Although adding schools like San Diego State and SMU could help create some level of value, this feels like shuffling chairs on the deck of the Titanic at his point in time.

While streaming is the future, it is perhaps a bit too early to ditch the linear TV model entirely. Although the Pac-12 Network is next to impossible to get out-of-market, accessibility could help keep this dying conference alive, one way or another. If it can just hold on for a few more months, it could survive. However, it feels like we are running on empty heading into this college season…

The thought behind this is a 12-team, or even 10-team, Pac-12 should be competitive enough to get its conference champion into the expanded College Football Playoff. Media rights deals be damned, realignment will take a backseat for the time being until the new playoff format gets all sorted out. Unfortunately, the Pac-12 could theoretically dissolve before our very eyes rapidly.

If the league cannot secure a strong media rights deal, what is to stop Oregon and Washington from bailing to the Big Ten? Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah to the Big 12? Heck, even Oregon State and Washington State to the Mountain West? The conference feels like it is one more paired exodus from a complete and total collapse. The Big 12 is well-equipped to survive.

By adding BYU, Cincinnati, Houston and UCF to help offset losing Oklahoma and Texas to the SEC, the Big 12 will soon feature a competitive 12-team league in both football and basketball across three time zones. In theory, the Pac-12 could do the same by adding San Diego State and SMU. Unfortunately, the Big 12 has ESPN and FOX broadcasting its games, while the Pac-12 does not.

ION may not be their preferred media partner, but desperate times call for desperate measures.

For more College Football news, analysis, opinion and unique coverage by FanSided, including Heisman Trophy and College Football Playoff rankings, be sure to bookmark these pages.