Notre Dame Football: Reasons for and against Irish finally joining a conference

Reason No. 1 not to join: It could negatively affect NBC deal

The most valuable part of the Irish being independent is their national television deal with NBC. They are the only football program with an exclusive contract with a network. Notre Dame draws revenue both from their NBC deal and the ACC as a “part-time” football member.

The deal between Notre Dame and NBC was brokered in 1991, initially paying the university $38 million which they used not just for athletics, but their general scholarship fund. That deal now pays them $15 million annually. Also, the Irish do not share any bowl revenue other ACC schools share despite access to ACC bowl ties.

If Notre Dame moves football to the ACC, what happens to the NBC deal? Would NBC want to pull out of the deal? Most likely not. Notre Dame draws some of the most substantial ratings and ad revenue of any show the network airs. Would the Notre Dame have to share NBC revenue? That’s a horse of a different color.

There is revenue sharing in every conference. When networks sign deals for football, they do not sign deals with individual schools, they sign deals with conferences. Money is then distributed to every school in the conference. NBC would possibly have to re-structure the deal to include the rest of the ACC. Notre Dame might not be interested in sharing.

Who could blame them? Aside from the revenue, the NBC deal brings to the table, and the exclusive television deal makes them a national brand that helps with recruiting. They were one of the first schools to recruit nationally; Notre Dame has to in order to field a competitive team.

If the Irish have to choose between conference life and the deal they have now, they’ll keep the deal they have. That would be smart too.