Social media reacts to conflicting reports about ION's involvement with the Pac-12

Upon further review it appears that the Pac-12 will not share a network with Law and Order

The Pac-12 media rights saga just took the turn of the century on Friday, as a jaw dropping report by Action Network's Brett McMurphy not only downplayed Apple's involvement with the Pac-12, but also threw out a new suitor.

One that is typically associated with what parents watch after a long day of work in ION, which is most known for airing programs such as Hawaii-Five-0, Law and Order SVU, and Bluebloods. 

Apple still has not made formal offer for Pac-12’s media rights, but ION television has emerged as a potential Pac-12 partner, sources told @ActionNetworkHQ. ION TV is owned by E.W. Scripps Company, which has 61 local TV stations nationwide & launched Scripps Sports this year

— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) February 24, 2023

The report sent social media into a frenzy, with Pac-12 fans saying their goodbyes to the conference, while others joked about Pac-12 After Dark interfering with a new episode of Law and Order SVU. That was until The Athletic's Stewart Mandel refuted the report by McMurphy of ION's involvement.

ION/Scripps Sports is not involved in the Pac-12's TV negotiations, a source with direct knowledge of the situation tells @TheAthletic.

— Stewart Mandel (@slmandel) February 24, 2023

The real players for the Pac-12's media rights are still believed to be ESPN, Amazon, and Apple but to say this wasn't an eventful chapter in the saga would be a lie. Here are some of the best reactions about the Pac-12's brief entanglement with ION.

---

The Pac-12 collapsing would be bad for college football, full stop. But if we’re in the ION and Apple TV+ round of rights negotiation… what are we doing here?

— Shehan Jeyarajah (@ShehanJeyarajah) February 24, 2023

RIP, Pac-12/ION era.

9:34 a.m. PT - 10:45 a.m. PT https://t.co/DqPPOpLBON

— Jason B. Hirschhorn (@by_JBH) February 24, 2023

Let’s see what shows ION has promoted on their network and where PAC-12 Football would possibly fall. (We’ve had an alarming amount of Scott Bakula on this account lately). pic.twitter.com/bU9XFsuLS9

— Sickos Committee (@SickosCommittee) February 24, 2023

Translation: the Pac-12 got cyberbullied so hard for about 45 minutes that it decided to stop negotiating with ION TV.

Y’all are welcome. https://t.co/l7ENi5G0DK

— Nathan Deal (@NattyD13) February 24, 2023

ION said we’ve got more Blue Bloods than the PAC-12, we’re too good for them https://t.co/ldPAkuge7u

— RedditCFB (@RedditCFB) February 24, 2023

pic.twitter.com/V1S8AHJwEC

— Josh Pate (@JoshPateCFB) February 24, 2023

Friday scorecard, and it's not even noon MT.

• Kermit Davis fired at Ole Miss

• NCAA rules on NIL-Cavinder twins.

• Scripps/ION in the Pac-12 mix.

• Scripps/ION NOT in the Pac-12 mix.

— Josh Newman (@Joshua_Newman) February 24, 2023