The Big Ten is nearing a media rights deal with the likes of NBC, CBS and Fox Sports, one that could be worth over $1 billion annually. It's a huge deal for the conference, who ended their 40-year partnership with ESPN in the process. With all the conference realignment talk swirling around, it's something that could affect college football teams themselves as well. For example, Notre Dame football, an independent university which has long been tied to the hip of NBC, had to be watching the Big Ten negotiations closely.
Via a school live chat, Fighting Irish athletic director Jack Swarbrick reacted to NBC's involvement in the conference's media deal, per Matt Fortuna of The Athletic.
Jack Swarbrick says on a school live chat the Big Ten's new TV deal is "perfect" for Notre Dame: "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."
— Matt Fortuna (@Matt_Fortuna) August 10, 2022
Jack Swarbrick said that the Big Ten's new deal is “perfect” for Notre Dame football. The Fighting Irish athletic director said that the university needs “NBC to have more college football.”
Swarbrick went on to say that if NBC is seen as an even bigger player for college football games after the Big Ten deal, that only helps the Fighting Irish even more.
Naturally, the conference's deal only ramped up the speculation that Notre Dame football, a school independent of the major conferences, would make its move to the Big Ten.
Notre Dame had been negotiating a new deal with NBC in July, as their contract is set to expire. If those negotiations fall through, could a move to a conference occur?
Don't bank on it. Swarbrick addressed the conference realignment craze, via Scott Dochterman of The Athletic. Swarbrick said that the realignment talk feels like “validation” for the Fighting Irish remaining independent.
He added that he feels they're in a good position. For now, they are.
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