Notre Dame remains firm in not joining a new conference despite some of the massive media rights deals being given out. But Notre Dame’s athletic director believes that the Fighting Irish will benefit regardless.
In a recent interview, Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick praised the new media rights deal that the Big Ten received from CBS, NBC and FOX. He pointed out that the partnership with NBC shows the network’s commitment to college football, and will promote their own games a lot more as a result.
Swarbrick is convinced that Notre Dame will benefit from NBC’s expanding college football platform. He called the Big Ten media rights deal “great for us.”
“We need NBC to have more college football, to more effectively promote our games and to talk about our games and to have NBC be seen in that light. So that was great for us,” Swarbrick said.
Notre Dame has been almost stubbornly independent in football for generations despite many offers to join conferences. With the Big Ten recently expanding and Notre Dame already having connections to the conference, it seems like the time is right for the Fighting Irish to join one.
But nothing appears imminent or even in the works, which could mean Notre Dame stays independent for another decade or more.
It feels inevitable that the offer to join a conference becomes too good to pass up. But that offer hasn’t come yet.
And if Notre Dame can continue to benefit from not joining a conference, all the better for them.