Notre Dame considering C7 offer?

[Moses]

I've heard it mentioned but wondered if there's any chance. The ACC could lose additional teams to the SEC, Big 12 and Big Ten which would cripple it. Notre Dame can survive as a football independent and park their other sports elsewhere as they did in the Big East. The Catholic 7 seem like a perfect fit in every way.

[JohnT]

I've been told there is a very real chance of this happening which could be part of the reason why the C7 isn't doing anything right now in terms of announcing anything. Why take schools you know you get get whenever you want them when the big fish might jump into your boat?

The Big 12 is making public statements about expanding and it's likely Clemson and Florida State are targets. Notre Dame is watching and waiting to see what happens with the ACC.

[XU85]

Follow the money. Does anyone know how much $ Notre Dame stands to make from their Non football association with the ACC?

[yorost]

I haven't seen exact numbers, but Notre Dame gets about a an equal split of 20% of the revenue distributed to teams. Right now, that looks like a base of around $60 million split 15 ways per season. BE7 would be looking at about 42$ million per season split 12 ways. Just a rough estimate, but...

ACC ~ $4 million
BE7 ~ $3.5 million

Obviously, the conference takes some (no idea how much), but joining the ACC looks to be worth around 15% more, unless the ACC contract in football costs them money. Dropping Michigan for an ACC team can't excite their tv partners. Notre Dame also affects the tv deals, and is probably a better boost for the BE7 than the ACC. That might tighten the gap. If Notre Dame has insider information that ACC schools are poised to leave, maybe that would erase the gap. When teams leave, does a conference face a negative renegotiating of a media deal?

Does Notre Dame have the same free exit deal with the ACC that it did with the Big East? If that $50 million holds up I don't see how they could consider a move out to a conference not offering significantly more.

[BE 7 Conference fan]

Can't see it happening unless the entire ACC blows up. And even then, I still think ND will look for the best deal for its FB team first.

Football bowl games are almost now entirely filled due to conference tie-ins. These bowl tie-ins are more important to Notre Dame than anything a basketball contract can provide.

[Moses]

I'd guess an ACC without Ga Tech, UNC, Clemson and Florida St would garner much less in media rights.

[JohnT]

Can't see it happening unless the entire ACC blows up. And even then, I still think ND will look for the best deal for its FB team first.

Football bowl games are almost now entirely filled due to conference tie-ins. These bowl tie-ins are more important to Notre Dame than anything a basketball contract can provide.

I think the ACC blowing up is actually quite possible.

[James]

Can't see it happening unless the entire ACC blows up. And even then, I still think ND will look for the best deal for its FB team first.

Football bowl games are almost now entirely filled due to conference tie-ins. These bowl tie-ins are more important to Notre Dame than anything a basketball contract can provide.

I think the ACC blowing up is actually quite possible.

Have to agree and when it does it will be just as quick as the demise of the Big East. One defection always leads to a panic and scramble amongst the conferences and schools and the ACC looks the most ripe for picking.

[BE 7 Conference fan]

Can't see it happening unless the entire ACC blows up. And even then, I still think ND will look for the best deal for its FB team first.

Football bowl games are almost now entirely filled due to conference tie-ins. These bowl tie-ins are more important to Notre Dame than anything a basketball contract can provide.

I think the ACC blowing up is actually quite possible.

If it does, Notre Dame will align itself with another conference that has bowl tie-ins.

[yorost]

That's not necessarily true. The affiliation is convenient but not necessary. The other independents have tie ins, Notre Dame can negotiate something, too. Bowls want them, they can manage their bowl situation without an aiding conference. It might be trickier, particularly for variety, but it isn't so unthinkably bad. There's also often issues with conferences not filling requirements, although that nets bad bowls.

I personally think Notre Dame should try to hammer out some sort of rotating agreement that lets them jump into slots under a conference getting 2 BCS bids. The conferences might not like it, but the bowls are going to like the options on the years they're getting stepped down. 2 BCS bids affects a slew of bowls negatively, Having a fill-in like that Notre Dame in those various ladders must be appealing option to each of those power conference chains.