Don’t look for Notre Dame to give up its football independence anytime soon.
That was the underlying message of public comments by athletic director Jack Swarbrick Wednesday, his most definitive on the possibility since the Big Ten Conference welcomed USC and UCLA as future members six weeks earlier.
“I don’t know if we’re stronger, but it certainly has felt like a validation of our decision to be independent,” Swarbrick said during a one-hour livestream interview released through the university web site. “I think all of this dynamic has just reinforced that a lot of decisions that have been made over the years have placed Notre Dame in a very good position. That’s my biggest takeaway.”
Swarbrick, who recently marked his 14th anniversary on the job, didn’t sound too concerned about missing out on what he termed a “pretty amazing” media rights package that reportedly could net Big Ten member schools upwards of $100 million per year.
He praised the “brilliant strategy” of Big Ten Commissioner Kevin Warren, a 1990 graduate of the Notre Dame Law School, and the negotiating acumen that forged what is expected to be a Big Ten tripleheader on fall Saturdays with Fox, CBS and NBC, starting in 2024.
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“I think it played out marvelously for him,” Swarbrick said. “The timing could not have been better. … But it’s also perfect for Notre Dame.”
Although Notre Dame’s contract with NBC runs through 2025, Swarbrick maintained the additional commitment to college football by the network can only benefit the Irish football program.
“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,” Swarbrick said. “So that was great for us that they got a big piece of this.”
Swarbrick reiterated the three major factors in Notre Dame’s continued independence are “a committed broadcast partner,” a model that provides “adequate access” to the College Football Playoff and a sensible home for the school’s Olympic sports, particularly in regard to travel.
On the…