BY LOU SOMOGYI
A
mong the seven deadly sins in
Christian ethics, two took cen-
ter stage in college football on
Feb. 5, 1990: greed and envy.
It was that day the University of Notre
Dame and the National Broadcasting
Company (NBC) reached an unprec-
edented agreement where NBC Sports
would exclusively televise all of Notre
Dame's home games nationally for a
five-year period from 1991-95.
In what was considered a clandestine
coup, the signing was announced by
Notre Dame executive vice president
Rev. E. William Beauchamp, C.S.C.,
Notre Dame athletics director Dick
Rosenthal, NBC Sports president Dick
Ebersol and NBC Sports vice president
Ken Schanzer.
The genesis of this historic move came
several weeks earlier when on Jan. 16,
ABC Sports and the College Football
Association (CFA) worked out a five-
year, $210 million television contract
THE DEAL OF THE
QUARTER-CENTURY
Notre Dame's contract with NBC 25
years ago came with much controversy
Notre Dame athletics director Dick Rosenthal (in the striped tie) and NBC Sports vice president Ken Schanzer
were the two main figures responsible for the deal to exclusively televise all Irish home games on NBC. The
original agreement was for five years and was estimated to be worth between $30 and $75 million.
PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME MEDIA RELATIONS
