Notre Dame football will air on NBC through 2025
BY LaMOND POPE Sun-Times Media April 18, 2013 9:49PM
Notre Dame football coach Brian Kelly talks with NBC sideline reporter Alex Flanagan at halftime of the Wake Forest game Nov. 17, 2012 in South Bend, Ind. (AP Photo/Joe Raymond)
Updated: April 18, 2013 11:59PM
NBC will remain the home for Notre Dame home football games.
The network and the university announced a 10-year contract extension, giving NBC the rights to televise Notre Dame home games through 2025.
Terms of the deal, which begins in 2016, were not released.
NBC has broadcasted Notre Dame games since 1991. It retains global media rights on all platforms to a minimum of seven Notre Dame home games per season. An occasional game might air on NBC Sports Network. NBC Sports Digital will continue to live stream home games on the web, mobile and tablets.
“While our relationship with NBC Sports is long-standing, the more recent merger between NBC and Comcast has opened up additional avenues to expand the breadth of Notre Dame-related sports programming on NBC platforms,” Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick said in a statement.
“Specifically, the evolution of the NBC Sports Network has provided opportunities for special programming featuring inside looks at our football team and several other Notre Dame sports programs and in-depth profiles on the unsung heroes of Notre Dame athletics.”
Notre Dame’s seven games on NBC in 2012 averaged 4.4 million viewers and a 2.8 household rating, up 69 percent and 67 percent, respectively, from 2011, according to the network. According to the network, it was the best performance on NBC in seven years (2005, 5.2 million), while the ratings were the best since 2006 (3.0).
“Coming off one of Notre Dame’s best and most dramatic seasons in decades, we could not be more proud to extend this historic partnership, which continues to be one of the most innovative in sports-media history,” said Mark Lazarus, the chairman of NBC Sports Group in a statement. “We are particularly excited that this extension offers enhanced rights that allow us to bring Notre Dame football to fans on more platforms than ever before.”
