Marcus Freeman’s Notre Dame rolls solo with an ‘independent’ tag for more than a century. Sure, they have occasionally joined conferences like we saw them in ACC during Covid, but for the most part, the independent tag almost stood like an iron curtain as they withstood the tides of NIL money, broadcasting rights, and even the rumblings of the transfer portal. But now, with time, there may be some inner reflection as the Irish have just signed a deal, which might not make them a part of a conference, but it’s a start and a signal of just that.
We all know how the broadcasting rights work in college football and how billions of dollars are guaranteed for conferences every year. Currently, the Big 10 and SEC are the top dogs, as the Big 10 gets more than a $7 billion deal with Fox, CBS, and NBC that will run til the year 2029-30. Moreover, the SEC had announced a $3 billion 10-year TV deal with ESPN in 2020. Now, Marcus Freeman’s Notre Dame is also after the same money that conferences promise.
The ACC conference’s viewership might not be the same as the Big 10 or SEC, but it still is the ‘power’ conference and thus has signed a deal worth $3.6 billion in 2012, which was recently extended to the year 2036. So, Notre Dame, having experienced the flavors of the ACC before and even made it to the conference championship, has now finally agreed to put pen to paper on a deal involving the ACC powerhouse Clemson Tigers.
NEW: Clemson and Notre Dame have agreed to a 12-year football series running from 2027 to 2038, @RossDellenger reports.https://t.co/dKZlZOb1fj pic.twitter.com/WJMVBY7I4Z
— On3 (@On3sports) May 6, 2025
Ross Dellenger of Yahoo Sports recently posted about the 12-year deal between Clemson and Notre Dame on his X account. “Notre Dame & Clemson have struck a 12-year annual football scheduling deal, sources tell @YahooSports. The series works independently of the ACC structure, but does count as one of ND’s five ACC games. Irish also expected to play FSU & Miami more regularly.”
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