Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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UNDER THE DOME 8 AUGUST 2023 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED Nike smashed the $90 million mark by agreeing to a 15-year, $250 million con- tract with Texas. Under Armour signed a similar deal (15 years, $280 million) with UCLA in 2016 but backed out of it in 2020 via a $67.5 million settlement, igniting worries among blue-and-gold faithful that Under Armour might've lost its fastball as a predominant col- legiate athletics sponsor. If there is a school UA will flip a hefty bill for, though, it's Notre Dame. UA sold out to remain tied in with Steph Curry. Notre Dame's brand is to college football what Curry's is to basketball. Despite the UCLA settlement and not racking up as many deals across the country as competitors Nike and Adidas, Under Armour has always been nothing but professional in dealing with Notre Dame and its student-athletes. That goes a long way in the eyes of an AD. And in the eyes of the players, for that matter. A snazzy warm-up suit doesn't need a swoosh or a Jumpman logo if they're functional, comfortable and readily available. There are many facets of customer satisfaction. UA always seems to turn over every stone. If it didn't, a superstar like Curry would run off to Nike. If Under Armour matches or exceeds the monetary offers of Nike and Adidas and meets the mark in all the other ar- eas then why does Notre Dame need to move on? It doesn't. So, maybe it won't. NBC HAS A STRONG CASE College football coaches love to tell the media how little they pay attention to what's being written about them and their teams. Athletics directors? Differ- ent story. Take it from Swarbrick. "I read once a week what our TV rev- enue is," he said. "It's never accurate. And that's OK. I don't want to correct it." That's the contrast between a coach and an administrator. The former has ample opportunities to set a narrative on the field and in press conferences. Swarbrick faces reporters in limited set- tings, meanwhile; after hirings, when new deals are reached with apparel and television partners, etc. The apparel deal will come before that of media rights. Notre Dame's current contract with NBC, which will begin broadcasting Big Ten games this fall, runs through 2025. "We have an opportunity to have a discussion now because of [NBC's] ac- quisition of Big Ten rights, but the con- tract is not ending," Swarbrick said. "We may wind up with a new agreement dur- ing this period of time. But we may not." Just as it may not be as simple as as- suming an extension with Under Ar- mour is all but wrapped up, NBC is not a lock to win the bidding war for broadcast rights to Notre Dame games. That's even with knowledge Swarbrick's soon-to-be successor, Pete Bevacqua, is the former chairman of NBC Sports Group. NBC has aired every Notre Dame home game for over three decades dat- ing back to 1991, and Bevacqua has been instrumental in the behind-the-scenes aspects of that for the last five years. It's eerily similar to Swarbrick's son being a major marketing executive at Under Armour. Despite the way it looks, though, Notre Dame's dealings with UA and NBC go far beyond nepotism. " I t 's t h e o p p o s i t e , a c t u a l l y," Swarbrick said. "Appropriately, Pete was a strong advocate inside NBC. He sees the value of this relationship. He's passionate about Notre Dame. It's great to have somebody in NBC who felt that way about Notre Dame. NBC values this property a lot. But we've lost that. So, it's not as easy as saying, 'Gee, now that Pete is here we'll get this deal done.' It's not that way." A s fo r t h e m o n e ta r y a m o u n ts Swarbrick said he sees over and over again — Front Office Sports just put one out in late June by saying Notre Dame is looking for $65 to $75 million an- nually from NBC — there is a number Swarbrick is shooting for. He wouldn't share it with Blue & Gold Illustrated. The common consensus, whether it's fact or fiction, is that Notre Dame cur- rently makes $20 to $25 million per year from NBC plus the roughly $17 million it made as a partial member of the ACC. With widespread reports of Big Ten and SEC schools being on the verge of reeling in $80 to $90 million annually once those conferences turn into super leagues in 2024, it's natural to ballpark Notre Dame's asking price from NBC at the figures Front Office Sports revealed. Sixty-five plus 17 equals 82. Seventy- five plus 17 equals 92. In a world that revolves around competitive pay, from those flipping burgers at fast food joints to those benefiting from multi-million dollar TV contracts, that'd be as com- petitive as it gets. Even the man who won't show his hand still knows it's all about the money. "Number one is the financial sup- port," Swarbrick said. "There is no rea- son not to be direct about that. Every- body understands it. It's important." What else is? "It's very important for us to be broadcasted nationally for every game," Swarbrick said. "That's unique. Most schools get regionalized. That exposure is very important to us." Exposure doesn't just come in the form of every Notre Dame home game being on one of America's "big three" cable networks. It comes from the as- sociation Notre Dame has with the net- work and the advocacy as a byproduct of it. Swarbrick will never forget what one of his acquaintances told him while watching one of golf's biggest events, for example. "He said, 'I love watching the Ry- der Cup, but if I hear one more thing about Notre Dame I'm going to turn it off,'" Swarbrick recalled. "That's great. That's what we want. To have Notre Dame football promoted during a Sun- day night NFL broadcast, no one else is getting that. That promotional com- mitment is very important." So, it's not Bevacqua, an NBC man through and through for the last half decade, becoming Notre Dame's ath- letics director when Swarbrick steps down in the first few months of 2024 that should make people adamant NBC is not going anywhere. It's the reality that this relationship has been mutually beneficial for both parties since 1991, and if the network comes up with ample financial allocation, then it makes sense to remain that way. "There is very good faith in the dis- cussions we are having with NBC," Swarbrick said. ✦