It’s also notable that beyond stabilizing Notre Dame’s 2020 football schedule in a conference-focused world where they could have been left out entirely (the most important part of this picture), this move also could lead to a financial gain for the Irish. A full share of ACC TV revenue looks better for them than their own deal with NBC. As per a piece from David M. Hale and Dave Wilson of ESPN earlier this month, the 2018-19 financial year saw the ACC pay out at at least $27 million per institution in normal per-school distributions, with an average of around $29 million per school. Meanwhile, Notre Dame received around $7 million from the ACC for their non-football membership in the league, and their football deal with NBC (which runs through 2025) is reportedly worth around $15 million per year, and they get another $3.19 million from the College Football Playoff each year (regardless of if they’re selected; they were not in 2019-20, but were in 2018-19). So that suggests they received about $25.2 million in total last year (plus whatever they got from the Big Ten as an associate member there for hockey).
So it looks like being a full ACC member would have been worth at least $2 million annually to the Irish last year, and probably more likely around $4 million (putting them to that $29 million average). And that’s before you add their own NBC and CFP money into the general ACC pot. Obviously, the figures are going to be much different this year thanks to the pandemic (and its cancellation of the 2020 NCAA basketball tournament and spring seasons and championships, and its still-to-come effects on football and other fall sports).
But it still seems pretty likely this revenue-sharing arrangement will work out in Notre Dame’s favor financially, even if the exact numbers aren’t known yet.
Of course, that doesn’t mean “Notre Dame is guaranteed to join the ACC permanently in football!” This year’s circumstances are extremely unique, and a firmer conference affiliation makes sense for the Irish in a world where so many conferences are going conference-only (or, in the case of the ACC, “conference-only plus one under a strict set of circumstances”). And that’s the bigger deal here than the financial side. And while Notre Dame might gain more financially from being a conference member than being independent at the moment, that isn’t necessarily the case for all time; the big question there will be about what the TV offers look like for the Irish as their current NBC contract gets closer to its expiry. But the financial side of this is interesting, and it’s further incentive still for Notre Dame to make this move this year.
(so it's not known yet)
https://awfulannouncing.com/ncaa/acc-notre-dame-combined-tv-revenues.html
