University of Texas at Austin earns the highest revenue of all athletics departments at $200 million per year.
In my opinion,the most affordable way for Notre Dame to join the Big Ten is through a merger of the 5 AAU ACC teams (UNC, Virginia, Duke, Pitt, & Notre Dame) into the Big Ten. This could occur if Clemson & FSU join the SEC which would damage the remainder of the ACC to the point that ESPN might release the ACC from its current TV /media rights contract that extends to 2035. But, this probably won’t happen due to ESPN’s interest in the ACC network.
If Notre Dame joins the Big Ten there will be a big penalty exit fee to pay to the ACC. Speculation is that the sum due as an exit fee from the ACC would be in the $100 million to $150 million range. If the exit fee could be paid in installments over the next 15 years (remaining years on ACC - ESPN contract) then it is doable as Notre Dame would probably earn tens of millions more per year as a member of the Big Ten Conference. The new Big Ten contract is likely to pay member schools about $70 million per year. ACC payout is about $32 million per year and this contract runs through 2035, but Notre Dame only received $10,8 million from the ACC for 2019-2020. Notre Dame also receives $15 million per year from NBC. Notre Dame’s insistence on being an independent in football costs Notre Dame tens of millions of dollars per year. It is not clear to me how much Notre Dame takes in as football related revenue per year.
If Notre Dame joined the Big Ten, the impact on the ACC might be huge as Clemson & FSU &, possibly,Miami might jump to the SEC. The SEC wants & is targeting Clemson & FSU according to widely circulated rumors. But, any impact depends upon how any move is structured.
Less harm to the ACC if Notre Dame just joins the Big Ten for football in addition to its current ice hockey affiliation with the Big Ten.
FWIW: West Virginia may join the ACC.
The real answer is that nobody knows what will happen if Notre Dame joins the Big Ten. If such a move is to happen,now is the time as the Big Ten is in current negotiations with Fox Sports regarding a new TV /media rights contract.
Supposedly, Fox is modeling different scenarios for the Big Ten. The models show what Fox will pay the Big Ten if certain teams join the conference.
My suspicion & my belief is that the world would be a better place if Notre Dame joined the Big Ten for football. This would enhance the value & the bargaining power of both Notre Dame and the Big Ten.
That OSU article about decline of ticket sales is so interesting. As a Notre Dame alum who lives in Columbus and has had season tickets to OSU games for 17 years (they are technically my husband’s parents’ tickets, but we use them instead), I’ve commented many times over the years on the differences between the two atmospheres. I actually think some of that is location. For the most part, going to a Notre Dame game is an event - people travel to get there, stay for the weekend, visit campus on friday, stay for the whole game no matter what the score, etc. At Notre Dame, the stadium is generally full of alums, students, and fans - some local, but many fans who traveled to be there. Whereas I feel like at OSU it has more of a local vibe, almost more like a pro team. While there are a lot of students and alums, there are also a ton of people just there from the Columbus area who got tickets. And especially in games that aren’t expected to be big competition, people tend to come late and/or leave early, on top of the game not selling out to start with. I’m just as guilty of that as other locals - we live about 15 minutes from campus and have a straight shot down one road from our house to west campus parking, so we tend to roll in just in time to see pre-game and then leave after halftime (I was in marching band at Notre Dame so I insist that we see the bands at all games, but after the halftime show I’m up for leaving if the game is out of hand!).
Going back on topic, though, selfishly I would love to see Notre Dame join the Big 10, but I don’t think it will happen. They used to have regular games with Michigan, Michigan State, and Purdue, that have not really happened regularly since they switched to the ACC. Geographically the Big 10 makes sense. And living in Columbus, I’d love to see Notre Dame / Ohio State become a regular game (I’m already excited about the 2022-2023 home and home series!). But I think they’ll stay independent as long as possible, with the TV schedule, ability to schedule games across the country, still having a chance at the playoff picture even without a conference, etc. I think they’ll only go to a conference if those opportunities disappear.
“still having a chance at the playoff picture even without a conference” = may be the key to getting Notre Dame into a conference.
The proposed playoff expansion could be designed in a manner to make remaining an independent unattractive. Already included in the proposal is a provision that only conference champions can get a bye in the playoffs. Since Notre Dame is not in a conference as a full member, it cannot become conference champion,and cannot earn a bye in the playoffs.
Playoff revenue sharing is another tool that can be used to motivate Notre Dame to join a conference. With an expansion of the CFP from 4 to 12 games, the playoffs are almost certain to generate incredible amounts of revenue. Why should any revenue be shared with independents which do not make the playoffs ?
Given the population differences between Columbus and South Bend, I would expect more locals at Ohio State games. And a much larger corporate culture in Columbus which brings a lot of people to Ohio State games who are not alums (though there is something like 275k OSU alums living in Ohio which is more than 2x the number of living ND alums). Columbus is also a large city with no NFL team (and during the 17 years you have been going to Ohio State games, the Browns and Bengals have pretty much totally sucked – other than the Browns currently) so big football fans in the state tend to follow the Buckeyes.
And when you travel a great distance to go to a game, you are more likely to stay longer (even a blowout or in bad weather). Just reality. In 45+ years of attending Ohio State games, I have only stayed the night when I was a student or otherwise living in the Columbus area. Most people I know are the same but there are some who stay over, visit campus/Columbus and their kids (if kids are students or live in the area). Only been to one ND game and we drove out for the day, went to a alum tailgate/lunch – though only one of us was an alum – toured campus a little, watched the game and drove back home.
In terms of sellouts, would ND sell out with 20k more seats? Based on the numbers, it seems like Ohio State would with 20k fewer seats.
I am a big fan of marching bands. Particularly TBDBITL. As a student, I had two student tickets my senior year. Went to the game for pregame and then left. During the game I found out the band was doing Script Ohio at half (back then, they really didn’t do script very often) so I headed back with my other ticket to watch halftime (and left right after). Team was pretty bad during that stretch. LOL
I didn’t read the terms of the Alliance in detail. But do they indicate that the teams of the 3 conferences must only play each other or are encouraged to do so? And a game between USC and LSU to be played in Las Vegas doesn’t come together in a day. That would have been in the works for months (talks between the schools, negotiations with the venue, etc). Were they to back away from all of that when the Alliance was announced? They may have already signed certain agreements at that point.
This is the best article for anyone who wants to get excited about the upcoming college football season which starts tomorrow. (Unfortunately, the link doesn’t work.)
“There were so many Auburn boosters looking over his shoulder, Gus needed rotator cuff surgery.”
“We just got to out bull___ somebody.”
Get excited about Notre Dame, Iowa State, & Cincinnnati.
So the title of the article you posted is wrong. USC didn’t neglect the conference alliance. There will be games between Alliance teams and non-Alliance teams.
And timing of the announcement is only problematic for people who don’t understand the logistics involved. Its not like the USC AD called up the LSU AD yesterday and said how about we play a football game in Vegas in 2024. And the LSU AD said what about the Alliance you guys announced yesterday? USC AD: Screw the Alliance. And the LSU AD said ok, lets announce we are playing in 2024.
There are months of discussions/negotiations leading up to those announcements. That they announced it a day or two ago indicates that those discussions/negotiations were far along by the time the Alliance was announced. Should they have walked away from them at that point?
Seems likely that there are ongoing discussions now with Alliance teams to play non-Alliance teams in the future. Should the Alliance teams walk away from those and only talk with Alliance teams?
I think that you miss the point regarding the timing of the announcement.
I encourage you to reread the article.
USC has a wandering eye.
Paul Finebaum recently stated on air that USC is welcome to join the SEC, then a day or two later stated in an interview that USC & Oregon should join the Big Ten. Feel free to speculate.
Problem for the Big 12 is they need to expand to become relevant again. Other conferences are already relevant and would be looking to expand to increase strength/power. So I wouldn’t expect the Big 12 to be a prized destination for teams looking to change conferences.
Well, with the Varsity Blues scandal as well as the 1,000 other scandals USC has had over the years, they’re definitely the most SEC-like team in the Pac-12.
