Even the team with the golden tradition, the golden subway alumni, the golden dome and golden helmets had to come to grips with the reality that times change.
Notre Dame, America’s college football program, could no longer afford to go it alone.
So the Irish Wednesday bolted the diminished Big East for the ACC for all sports except hockey and football, ensuring itself of schedule stability and marquee bowl destination in an ever-changing college football landscape.
The Irish agreed to play five ACC opponents a year, but did not join the league in football, allowing Notre Dame to retain its NBC contract and flexibility to play a national schedule.
The ACC gets the marquee name in college sports, which it certainly will take back to ESPN and seek a more lucrative TV deal. Many TV experts believe the ACC got below market value in its last deal. ACC schools get $17 million annually.
The Irish could feel the scheduling noose tighten as conferences expanded, limiting the number of non-league games each team could play. And with the new college football playoff on the horizon, Notre Dame needed the security of aligning itself with the ACC which has an agreement with the Orange Bowl.
The move hurts the Big East, perhaps more in perception than the pocketbook. The league, which loses Pittsburgh and Syracuse to the ACC after this season and lost West Virginia to the Big 12, is in the midst of negotiating a new TV deal.
Because of market dynamics — the Big East is the last major conference and one of the last significant live sports properties available — the league remains attractive, especially to Comcast/NBC which needs quality sports programming. But this latest move is a major whack for the league’s branding.
For those who wonder why Notre Dame made such an agreement with the ACC and not the Big East, whose membership includes cities heavy with Notre Dame alums, it is here the defection of Pittburgh and Syracuse hurt.
Had those two remained in the Big East, the Irish might have considered such a scheduling alliance. But when they left and the Big East brought in the likes of Central Florida, Houston, Memphis and SMU, the league became less desirable to the Irish.
With those two programs gone to the ACC, that league became the most attractive partner. The Big 12 was hoping to get Notre Dame, but the ACC is seen as being a more academic, athletic and cultural fit.
The timing of the move remains uncertain. The Big East has a 27-month exit window, meaning the Irish couldn’t leave until 2015 without paying the $5 million exit fee for basketball; $10 million for football. The ACC has a $50 million exit fee.
Notre Dame has had some great games with Miami, Pittsburgh and Florida State and has a series with Boston College, all ACC members. Notre Dame’s tradition schedule includes games against Michigan, Navy, Purdue, Stanford, USC and Michigan State, which the Irish play Saturday.