MORGANTOWN - It was around noon on Tuesday afternoon when WVU athletic director Shane Lyons heard the blockbuster news.
"I just got a phone call an hour or so ago from [senior associate AD] Matt Wells," Lyons said at the time. "It was the first I'd heard of it."
It won't, however, be the last. And West Virginia University officials will be listening, reading and watching closely.
See, on Tuesday, news leaked that college athletic multimedia rights and sponsorship holder giants Learfield and IMG College are close to a merger.
SportsBusiness Daily said it's close to a merger and "reshaping college space." Forbes said the two entities are negotiating to "create [a] media rights juggernaut."
The news could affect not only WVU, but college athletics across the nation.
Here's the deal. According to Forbes, IMG College holds the multimedia rights to 90 universities and conferences. Learfield has 130 college partners.
Together, their portfolios account for 70 percent of Division I athletic programs and 85 percent of the Power 5 schools.
It's been a fractured business with arms such as IMG College Licensing, which handles trademark licensing, etc. But a merger would seemingly bring most aspects under one umbrella and, theoretically anyway, make for what SBD calls "a much more effective sales engine."
The question, though, is how will it affect schools like WVU? Specifically, how will it affect WVU?
In case you're unaware, West Virginia University signed with IMG College back in 2013. You might remember former Mountaineer athletic director Oliver Luck made the deal and the subsequent blowback from West Virginia Radio Corporation's John Raese.
Anyway, the deal is scheduled to make at least $86.5 million for WVU through 2025 and an additional $105 million the following decade should officials renew the partnership.
Yet is WVU's leverage now close to disappearing? If the merger passes antitrust reviews and is consummated is the current duopoly turned into a monopoly?
"Yeah, there's that first reaction," Lyons said. "But JMI Sports has come into the market. They have Kentucky right now. I think they'll continue to be a player in the market. You do look at it and wonder though if, by merging the two companies, are they monopolizing a whole lot?
"At the same time, you go by your market value. You have some type of figure in your head of what your property is worth. So it's yet to be determined."
As Lyons said, JMI Sports and Van Wagner are smaller companies in the same space. Yet remember Host Communication? Remember ISP Sports? Both were rolled into IMG.
"It's interesting," Lyons said. "I don't think it changes anything for us. I obviously had experience with both [IMG College and Learfield] at Alabama. It's Learfield predominantly, but it was also an IMG property. So it was split.
"I have a relationship with [expected CEO of the merged companies] Greg Brown and know him very well. I know people from Learfield very well. So I don't think it changes anything from our day-to-day operations."
However, the future - especially in regard to negotiations - has to be a concern. Lyons, though, isn't panicking. In fact, he suggest much good could come from a merger.
"When you're talking about the future, each company has about 100 schools each," said the WVU AD. "So now you'll have 200. I think that will help your sponsorships and buying power. The future could mean more opportunities for our sponsorships and companies."
Perhaps. We shall see. One thing is certain: All within college athletics are watching and waiting.
"It's huge," Lyons said. "It is."