Can ND Shake Down NBC With Its Thunder?

M-1 odds: College football realignment hysteria keeps following TV $ & ND will NOT join ACC that’s going way of PAC 12 & Dodo Bird BUT will flip to BIG 10 IF it can’t get NBC to match rich rights contract it (& ABC & Fox) have with BIG.

The Forbes article by Terence Moore, “Faster Than You Can Say ‘Bigger Paycheck,’ Clemson & Florida State Will Bolt ACC,” was spot on. It argued tv rights contracts, not altruistic notions of fan or player interests let alone “independence,” was driving the wild expansion by the biggest (& richest) conferences at the expense of the less fortunate (aka poorer) ones. It will also drive Notre Dame’s decision on whether to remain the mega-elephant in the room by staying “independent” & risks getting tv table scraps while their Power 5 competitors hand them their tv frozen dinner, er, lunch. Let’s do the math. As Moore noted, the Big 10’s current tri-network deal translates into $80-$100 MILLION per year for each conference member & Sports Illustrated says up to $75 million of that will be derived from football broadcasts by 2025. Meanwhile, ND’s “exclusive” contract with NBC to air its football team’s home games is reportedly about $22 million per year. That NBC contract expires after the 2024 season & Sports Business Journal says its sources indicate ND is expecting to nearly TRIPLE its NBC football take to $60 million each year.

Spoiler alert? Not only does $60M not add up to $75M, but ND’s unique brand can only make NBC part with so much. Esp if you take a look at ND’s upcoming home game schedules for 2025 (Texas A&M, Purdue, USC, Navy, NC State & Syracuse) & 2026 (Wisconsin [neutral site], Virginia, Michigan State, Syracuse & Miami). Some good teams, but outside of USC & maybe Miami, there’s no Shake Down the Money Tree opponents like Ohio State, Michigan, Alabama, LSU, Clemson, Penn State …

Davd Soul