Major news: Notre Dame demands $75M/yr from NBC. Increasing likelihood of a jump to the B1G?

[CatManTrue]

Notre Dame wants its annual payout from NBC to be increased to $75M per annum to remain independent and with them.

For those keeping record at home, they currently get paid $15M. So that would be a 400% increase.

Does anyone else think this increases the odds of them jumping to the B1G ?

Notre Dame targeting $75 million annual media rights payout in quest to remain independent

Power Five shoulder programming around Notre Dame games will be key to making such a deal happen

www.cbssports.com

 

[DarkSide576]

Notre Dame wants its annual payout from NBC to be increased to $75M per annum to remain independent and with them.

For those keeping record at home, they currently get paid $15M. So that would be a 400% increase.

Does anyone else think this increases the odds of them jumping to the B1G ?

Notre Dame targeting $75 million annual media rights payout in quest to remain independent

Power Five shoulder programming around Notre Dame games will be key to making such a deal happen

www.cbssports.com

Frankly, it may be worth it to NBC, to increase the payout. ND is still a top ten program in drawing eyeballs to televisions.

 

[Gocatsgo2003]

Notre Dame wants its annual payout from NBC to be increased to $75M per annum to remain independent and with them.

For those keeping record at home, they currently get paid $15M. So that would be a 400% increase.

Does anyone else think this increases the odds of them jumping to the B1G ?

Notre Dame targeting $75 million annual media rights payout in quest to remain independent

Power Five shoulder programming around Notre Dame games will be key to making such a deal happen

www.cbssports.com

At the very least it signals that Notre Dame is willing to use going to the B1G as legitimate leverage in a high-stakes negotiation.

 

[CatManTrue]

Frankly, it may be worth it to NBC, to increase the payout. ND is still a top ten program in drawing eyeballs to televisions.

What’s interesting is that in order to make this viable, NBC needs additional “shoulder” CFB.

Supposedly they want part of the B1G package when Fox takes over the majority of it. Which works against the B1G’s interests, so there’s no reason why the B1G would choose NBC if it enables them to pay ND $75B.

“The Big Ten is expected to announce a new $1 billion media rights deal possibly as early as this month with Fox as its primary partner. It is believed to be seeking 2-3 other partners to air its programming with NBC reportedly among the bidders.”

 

[CatManTrue]

At the very least it signals that Notre Dame is willing to use going to the B1G as legitimate leverage in a high-stakes negotiation.

It also limits their options. I doubt anyone aside from the B1G can offer $75M+ with certainty. The ACC won’t come close. Is even the SEC’s new TV contract estimated to exceed that?

So ND may get a massive increase from NBC, or join the B1G for similar revenues.

 

[DarkSide576]

What’s interesting is that in order to make this viable, NBC needs additional “shoulder” CFB.

Supposedly they want part of the B1G package when Fox takes over the majority of it. Which works against the B1G’s interests, so there’s no reason why the B1G would choose NBC if it enables them to pay ND $75B.

“The Big Ten is expected to announce a new $1 billion media rights deal possibly as early as this month with Fox as its primary partner. It is believed to be seeking 2-3 other partners to air its programming with NBC reportedly among the bidders.”

Do not underestimate how much a say Fox will have regarding anything related to expansion, television rights, etc. What they says will carry arguably more weight than anything Kevin Warren, Gene Smith and the rest have to say.

 

[Curdog7]

Notre Dame wants its annual payout from NBC to be increased to $75M per annum to remain independent and with them.

For those keeping record at home, they currently get paid $15M. So that would be a 400% increase.

Does anyone else think this increases the odds of them jumping to the B1G ?

Notre Dame targeting $75 million annual media rights payout in quest to remain independent

Power Five shoulder programming around Notre Dame games will be key to making such a deal happen

www.cbssports.com

They want $75mm for just the 6 home games????

 

[zeek55]

It means this is all postponed to around 2032-2033 if they sign that deal with NBC.

Reality is ND's fate comes down to a couple of factors, first of which is what happens to TV ratings as cord cutting continues/accelerates (and yes that even impacts broadcast) and whether ND needs to be part of a much larger group of schools to drive good ratings.

More important is what happens to the ACC in the mid-2030s. You could have an all out bidding war for schools like UNC, UVA, Duke, etc. that may be coveted by the Big Ten and/or SEC.

Clemson, FSU, Miami are all making it known they're unhappy with the current payouts as well, so the situation is extremely volatile.

 

[Eurocat]

quote:
Notre Dame would remain independent if it can earn at least $75 million annually in media rights revenue from current broadcast partner NBC, sources told CBS Sports. The Fighting Irish's deal with the network is set to expire in 2025.

For NBC to feel comfortable raising Notre Dame's valuation to such a level, it is seeking "shoulder programming" from a Power Five conference to enhance its college football coverage.

When such a move had been speculated previously, the Big Ten was the conference mentioned most often as a target.

However, the Big 12 has emerged as a strong option to fill NBC's shoulder programming needs.

End quote.


Notre Dame to LIV?!

Kidding aside....Who is going to play them? B1G could and should freeze them out, out of spite. SEC and B1G probably will be making enough through TV deals and playing hard enough conference schedules that they wouldn’t be interested.

That leaves mostly lower tier schools. Even if NBC gives them that contract, I feel like their ratings will take a bit of a hit when they’re playing middling programs while the SEC/B1G have premier matchups weekly. Even if they get the contract from NBC now, ratings won’t justify the contract growing like it will in B1G/SEC.

Every conference team you play has 8-9 more important games than the ND game. USC's game vs Cal is more important than the ND game bc it's a conference game and to get to the playoffs it's more important to win a conference game than your game against (out of conference) ND.

ND has appeared in four games total in the top 10 most watched games the last 6 years. Sounds like alot!

But three of those games were games against (then) top ranked Clemson and the other against FSU last year.

Why the ratings for FSU last year? Sunday night game...no competition and opening weekend!

No one's tuning in to watch ND vs the military academies or someone like Boston College when Texas is playing LSU, Oklahoma is playing Alabama, and USC is playing Ohio State.

Eff em.

 

[Purple Pile Driver]

The two big boys will each end up with 20-24 teams each. They will each have a rep in a college super bowl. Think NFC versus AFC. The Big Boys can virtually monopolize the Natty by shutting out anyone that isn’t part of the big 2. Forget what NBC or anyone pays ND, the 2 conferences cut them out and they are forced to join one or they get shut out from the Natty. That’s almost as important as the cash .

 

[Eurocat]

I still think there exists a possibility that a combined Pac merging with the B12 and a combined ACC merges with a few other schools (like Temple for example). I mean, right now Clemson, Virginia Tech, Duke, Miami, Florida State...all are out as last I read it, and I just don't see that happening, nor do I see ND remaining Independent.

Then there would be 4 conferences and each could align with either ABC, CBS, NBC or Fox.

 

[bringbacktherantboard]

The two big boys will each end up with 20-24 teams each. They will each have a rep in a college super bowl. Think NFC versus AFC. The Big Boys can virtually monopolize the Natty by shutting out anyone that isn’t part of the big 2. Forget what NBC or anyone pays ND, the 2 conferences cut them out and they are forced to join one or they get shut out from the Natty. That’s almost as important as the cash .

That sounds like the opposite of good.

 

[Purple Pile Driver]

https://sports.yahoo.com/amphtml/no...yone-not-in-the-sec-or-big-ten-190405748.html

This is why ND has no choice but to eventually join a conference.

 

[StreamCat]

I follow Notre Dame football. I follow Northwestern football. None of this interests me much. I’m not sure why. Well, I guess I was interested enough to read the thread… and to respond to it.

 

[Sheffielder]

Just some random thoughts...

* Isn't this all fascinating?!

* The sheer amount that we as fans DON'T know about negotiations, valuation, and other details driving everything is actually really funny when you think about it...we are the equivalent of kindergarteners speculating on where babies come from.

* All tv deals are an interesting affirmation on how much live sports are still worth in the changing tv landscape, but I do wonder if/when we hit a tipping point, where networks either conceive of other equally popular programming that is cheaper to acquire/produce, or when there are literally not enough subscribers to justify the payouts.

* Can you imagine if tomorrow, DirecTV came out of nowhere and spent all its Sunday Ticket money to acquire exclusive broadcasting rights for a conference?!

* To the point above, I believe in this lifetime I/we will see conferences offering their own streaming direct-to-consumer streaming services...because they know there are enough Iowa households will pay $49.95 x 12 to watch Iowa its entire season, or $299.95 for the entire Big Ten season, or whatever.

 

[NUCat320]

* To the point above, I believe in this lifetime I/we will see conferences offering their own streaming direct-to-consumer streaming services...because they know there are enough Iowa households will pay $49.95 x 12 to watch Iowa its entire season, or $299.95 for the entire Big Ten season, or whatever.

I’m terrified of this day, and expect it to come soon. Perhaps this speaks ill of me, but I sure enjoy ‘watching’ Tuesday night MACtion (listening to it while doing something else) or, more pertinent, a noon SEC or Big 12 game, but I’d never pay specifically for those things.

Mass distribution matters. The a la carte model feels a whole lot like Bill “gigantic dummy” Wirtz killing Blackhawks hockey for my generation by moving it to paid tv tiers. (I’d buy a Cats season, and probably a Big Ten season, but I’d probably do without the rest of it.)

Related, a bit, my wife started watching this show Manifest on Netflix last night. Apparently it had three seasons on NBC, to little impact, and immediately became a streaming hit when it moved to Netflix, to the point where Netflix renewed it for a fourth and final season. Live sports is literally the only thing that can draw ratings to over the air or cable TV.

Also, the Dodgers reported to Sunday that they could not watch the MLB Futures game because, according to Dave Roberts, “we don’t have Peacock in the clubhouse.”

 

[Sheffielder]

I’m terrified of this day, and expect it to come soon. Perhaps this speaks ill of me, but I sure enjoy ‘watching’ Tuesday night MACtion (listening to it while doing something else) or, more pertinent, a noon SEC or Big 12 game, but I’d never pay specifically for those things.

Mass distribution matters. The a la carte model feels a whole lot like Bill “gigantic dummy” Wirtz killing Blackhawks hockey for my generation by moving it to paid tv tiers. (I’d buy a Cats season, and probably a Big Ten season, but I’d probably do without the rest of it.)

Related, a bit, my wife started watching this show Manifest on Netflix last night. Apparently it had three seasons on NBC, to little impact, and immediately became a streaming hit when it moved to Netflix, to the point where Netflix renewed it for a fourth and final season. Live sports is literally the only thing that can draw ratings to over the air or cable TV.

Also, the Dodgers reported to Sunday that they could not watch the MLB Futures game because, according to Dave Roberts, “we don’t have Peacock in the clubhouse.”

My thought on this is that the mid-majors will fill the schedule on ESPN at this point - still scratching the itch for fans who wanna watch something midweek. Also possible that one Big Ten or SEC featured game becomes the game of the week with a national broadcast.

Totally agree that mass distribution matters, but when you look at how big of a hit a show like Game of Thrones was...and then you consider how many watchers were actually HBO subscribers...there's some hope for what lies ahead.

 

[CatManTrue]

I’m terrified of this day, and expect it to come soon. Perhaps this speaks ill of me, but I sure enjoy ‘watching’ Tuesday night MACtion (listening to it while doing something else) or, more pertinent, a noon SEC or Big 12 game, but I’d never pay specifically for those things.

Mass distribution matters. The a la carte model feels a whole lot like Bill “gigantic dummy” Wirtz killing Blackhawks hockey for my generation by moving it to paid tv tiers. (I’d buy a Cats season, and probably a Big Ten season, but I’d probably do without the rest of it.)

Related, a bit, my wife started watching this show Manifest on Netflix last night. Apparently it had three seasons on NBC, to little impact, and immediately became a streaming hit when it moved to Netflix, to the point where Netflix renewed it for a fourth and final season. Live sports is literally the only thing that can draw ratings to over the air or cable TV.

Also, the Dodgers reported to Sunday that they could not watch the MLB Futures game because, according to Dave Roberts, “we don’t have Peacock in the clubhouse.”

Thank you for your unofficial review of Manifest. Are there any other TV related thoughts that you’d like to share? Any that pertain to how much Irish people - or people who pretend to be Irish on Saturdays - will pay to watch footballs?

 

[NUCat320]

Thank you for your unofficial review of Manifest. Are there any other TV related thoughts that you’d like to share? Any that pertain to how much Irish people - or people who pretend to be Irish on Saturdays - will pay to watch footballs?

No.

 

[StreamCat]

Thank you for your unofficial review of Manifest. Are there any other TV related thoughts that you’d like to share? Any that pertain to how much Irish people - or people who pretend to be Irish on Saturdays - will pay to watch footballs?

Sorry we annoy you, Your Majesty.

 

[CatManTrue]

Sorry we annoy you, Your Majesty.

I’m a big fan of @NUCat320 and was just joshing him, as the kids used to say.

There’s not much interesting to watch now sports-wise. I’m all caught up on Obi Wan and The Boys. Any other suggestions?