According to this report, the Pac-10 (which will officially become the Pac-12 on Friday with the new additions of Utah and Colorado) is exploring various options for its TV network. Usually this wouldn't be very exciting news, except for the fact that the soon-to-be-Pac-12 is considering something that no other conference has considered before.
TV? Try again. The league is considering an Internet-based network that could revolutionize the way that we watch sports.
Instead of watching games on your TV, you would access them from the Internet. It goes without saying that this potential idea involves quite a bit of risk, but it could actually pay off. We live in the Age of the Computer, and now is as good a time as any to make this leap. Don't worry about any changes for this year though: the new network that the Pac-12 decides to put in place, whether it be TV-based or Internet-based, won't launch until August of 2012.
The league is considering big tech companies such as Google or Apple as it continues to explore this option. But is it feasible? The short answer: yes. The Pac-12 wouldn't make short-term revenue with an internet-based network and could lose upwards of $10 million each year, but the conference already has a 12-year, $250 million annual deal with Fox and ESPN that would more than compensate.
We will have to wait to see what the the Pac-12 does, but you have to give props to the newly-formed conference for pushing the envelope. And who knows? Ten years from now, we might look back and thank the Pac-12 for changing the way that we watch sports.