Fighting Irish will play a 10-game conference schedule in '20, a huge a win for the ACCGETTY IMAGES
The ACC announced it still intends to play football this fall, but an underlying media story behind the conference’s decision is just as compelling: Notre Dame will compete for an ACC championship. The big winner of the announcement is the ACC, which convinced Notre Dame to turn over its annual media rights revenue from NBC to the league, where it will be distributed evenly among its members. In exchange, the Irish will play a 10-game conference schedule, another huge a win for the league. Notre Dame’s contract with the ACC stipulates that the Irish must join the ACC if they join anywhere before '36. Notre Dame staunchly has defended its independence in football. Still, one didn’t have to look too deep into this announcement to question whether the Irish could be convinced to join the ACC in football permanently. Experts don’t see that happening. The school has made no secret that its preference is to make its own schedule each year. What could change that? The thrill of a run to the conference championship, a title game matchup against Clemson and the huge ratings boom such a matchup would provide. (Michael Smith, SBJ Media).
WIN-WIN SITUATION: ESPN's Andrea Adelson said "a lot of folks in the ACC wanted (the media rights revenue) to happen if Notre Dame was going to come into the fold.” The folks in the ACC "feel like this is an absolute win for them because of what it does for the schedule, for marquee games for TV, which if there are no fans in the stands TV is going to be more important than ever, and Notre Dame has already strengthen the ACC football side of it even though they’re not a full-time member" ("The Paul Finebaum Show," ESPN Radio, 7/30).
