Editing Ion Television (section)

====Sports====
{{See also|Scripps Sports}}
The network has previously broadcast certain sporting events, including [[Conference USA]] [[college football]] games (produced by [[College Sports Television]]), soccer matches from the [[Women's United Soccer Association]], [[Real Pro Wrestling]] (which more resembles the amateur form than the theatrically-based ring sport), the [[Champions Tour]] of golf, the [[Paralympic Games]] and a weekly [[mixed martial arts]] program from ''[[BodogFight (TV series)|BodogFight]]''. In its home state of Florida, the network's stations had served as a statewide chain to carry play-by-play coverage of a number of games for [[Major League Baseball]]'s [[Tampa Bay Rays]] and [[Florida Marlins]] (demarcated by each team's territories) until the late 2000s, when cable's Fox Sports Florida and Sun (now [[Bally Sports Florida]] and [[Bally Sports Sun|Sun]]) acquired the exclusive rights to both teams.

Ion Television aired [[NFL Films]]' weekly highlight program, the ''[[NFL Films Game of the Week]]'' on Saturday evenings from September 16, 2007, to January 5, 2008, with its initial broadcast focusing on the [[2007 NFL season|September 9, 2007]] game between the [[New York Giants]] and the [[Dallas Cowboys]]. The series was not renewed for the fall 2008 season. Ion also obtained rights to televise games from the [[American Indoor Football Association]], which were slated to begin airing in March 2008.<ref>{{cite press release|title=This Week In The AIFA Previews Season Kickoff|url=http://www.aifaprofootball.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=142&Itemid=1|website=[[American Indoor Football Association]]|date=March 4, 2008}}</ref> However, the game's producers did not provide a live broadcast and the agreement was terminated.

On December 28, 2010, Ion Television signed a deal with the [[Ultimate Fighting Championship]] to air the preliminary fights to the January 1 [[pay-per-view]] event [[UFC 125]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Ion Television lands UFC 125 prelims, Dana White promises three fights|url=http://mmajunkie.com/news/21864/ion-television-lands-ufc-125-prelims-dana-white-promises-three-fights.mma|first=John|last=Morgan|website=MMAJunkie.com|date=December 28, 2010|access-date=November 14, 2012|archive-date=October 23, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121023082755/http://mmajunkie.com/news/21864/ion-television-lands-ufc-125-prelims-dana-white-promises-three-fights.mma|url-status=dead}}</ref> Ion also aired the preliminary fights for [[UFC 127]] and [[UFC 140]] later in 2011, before the organization signed an exclusive [[UFC on Fox|programming agreement with Fox]].

On April 20, 2023, Ion Television, through [[Scripps Sports]], signed a multi-year deal with the [[Women's National Basketball Association]] (WNBA) to air a 15-week slate of [[Doubleheader (television)|doubleheader]] games on Friday nights (branded as ''WNBA Friday Night Spotlight on ION''), beginning with that year's [[2023 WNBA season|regular season]]. It will be the first national sports broadcast carried by Ion since 2011, and marks the first ever television contract for Scripps Sports, which was founded by the E. W. Scripps Company in December 2022 to acquire sports events for Ion and the group's local television stations. The agreement also grants local rights to selected Ion [[owned-and-operated stations|O&Os]] for games involving regional WNBA teams, which stations may carry in early- or late-evening broadcast windows depending on tip-off time.<ref>{{cite press release|title=WNBA AND SCRIPPS PARTNER ON MULTI-YEAR AGREEMENT FOR FRIDAY NIGHT SPOTLIGHT GAMES ON ION|url=https://scripps.com/press-releases/wnba-and-scripps-partner-on-multi-year-agreement-for-friday-night-spotlight-games-on-ion/|website=The E.W. Scripps Company|date=April 20, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=WNBA partners with Scripps to show Friday night games on ION|url=https://www.espn.com/wnba/story/_/id/36246097/wnba-partners-scripps-show-friday-night-games-ion|agency=Associated Press|publisher=[[ESPN]]|date=April 20, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite press release|title=Scripps launches Scripps Sports division to further its sports programming initiatives|url=https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/scripps-launches-scripps-sports-division-to-further-its-sports-programming-initiatives-301704484.html|agency=[[PR Newswire]]|date=December 15, 2022|access-date=April 20, 2023}}</ref>

On November 9, 2023, the [[National Women's Soccer League]] announced Scripps Sports as a rightsholder beginning in the 2024 season, with Ion to air Saturday night doubleheaders. Ion will also air the [[2024 NWSL Draft]].<ref name=aa>{{Cite web |last=Lucia |first=Joe |date=November 9, 2023 |title=NWSL announces new media rights deals, reportedly paying $60 million annually |url=https://awfulannouncing.com/soccer/nwsl-new-media-rights-deals-espn-amazon-scripps-cbs.html |access-date=November 10, 2023 |website=Awful Announcing |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=in>{{Cite web |last=Tannenwald |first=Jonathan |date=November 9, 2023 |title=The NWSL signs new broadcast deals with CBS, ESPN, Amazon, and ION worth $60 million a year |url=https://www.inquirer.com/soccer/nwsl-tv-streaming-cbs-espn-amazon-prime-video-ion-20231109.html |access-date=November 10, 2023 |website=[[Inquirer.com]] |language=en}}</ref>