Does NBC Even Like Notre Dame?

Some networks just don’t belong in the college football business. With every passing year, I am more and more convinced that NBC is one of those networks.

Now, as you probably know, NBC is barely in the college football business to begin with. The network has one property – Notre Dame. Given the Fighting Irish’s tradition and nationwide fanbase, if NBC is only going to invest in one college football team, there is a good argument to be made that it picked the right one. But on Thursday night, news broke about the network’s plans for Notre Dame football in 2022 and to say it left me scratching my head is an understatement.

The report says that the top USFL booth of Jac Collinsworth and former Dallas Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett are among the top considerations to call Notre Dame home games next year.

I am not a Notre Dame fan at all. I genuinely loath this insistence that the school is still capable of producing a national championship-level football team and has not been surpassed by a dozen more likely winners. Still, I found myself thinking “how insulting” when I read the news.

Does NBC even like Notre Dame football? Every action the network takes and decision it makes points to the fact that maybe the people in charge don’t.

Let’s start with the fact that there is almost no significant Notre Dame presence on the broadcast. Collinsworth, who originally joined the crew in 2020 as the studio host, is an alum of the school, but he doesn’t have the personal connection and passion for the team that this broadcast would warrant. Corey Robinson is part of the studio crew. He played in South Bend from 2013-2016, but he was more of a one year wonder than a bona fide star.

Think about all of the accomplished analysts and former analysts that NBC could pick from. Mike Golic, Mike Golic Jr, Jerome Bettis, Brady Quinn, Joe Theisman, and Aaron Taylor all fit that bill. That is half a dozen options I came up with right now off the top of my head.

Hell, let Lou Holtz get on the set. I don’t care that he clearly hasn’t watched a game since 1995 (yes, I am aware he coached until 2004).

Fans of Notre Dame love the smell of their own farts. Give them some of that sweet stink with an icon!

Instead, NBC leans on Doug Flutie, who didn’t play at Notre Dame. In the past, it was Pat Haden, who played for Notre Dame’s most hated rival, USC.

Brian Noe asked Mike Golic about this last year. The Radio Hall of Famer said that it certainly seems like an intentional decision by NBC to keep former Notre Dame players out of the broadcast booth.

“We’ve had Boston College guys in there in Flutie, and Tony Dungy in there, and now a Purdue guy in Drew Brees,” Golic said. “I’m like wait a minute, man, I’m a Domer. Let’s get a Domer in there a little bit. But I don’t get to make those decisions because I would love to do that, sure.”

If the booth on Saturdays this fall really will be Jac Collinsworth and Jason Garrett, it continues a long tradition for NBC of treating the Notre Dame broadcast like an obligation and not a priority.

Now understand me. I don’t think Jac and Jason are bad. I don’t think they’re good. They are just kind of there.

NBC has to replace Mike Tirico. He is one of the top voices in broadcasting right now, but even with his talent and star power, the network had a habit of saddling him with whoever was around.

An untested Drew Brees? A well-worn, unremarkable Doug Flutie? If they’re nearby and don’t have anything better to do, sign ’em up!

Why not kick the tires on Brad Nessler? Surely he’d love some more job security with time running out on the SEC on CBS. To a generation of gamers and college football fans, he is the voice of the sport. How about Tim Brando? He deserves to be on a network’s headline crew.

Or what if NBC did something really interesting and different? The network already employs one of the most unique voices in sports broadcasting. Between EA Sports and Ted Lasso, his profile keeps growing in the US. If NBC doesn’t want Arlo White on Premier League games anymore, why not give him a crack at Notre Dame? It would give the broadcasts a big feel that Jac Collinsworth just can’t.

Let’s forget about the broadcasters for a second. I don’t want to pile on them. I want to look at how little NBC does to support Notre Dame football.

There is no other college football on NBC’s airwaves. That may make Notre Dame feel pretty, but the truth is that it can justify the network never putting more money or effort into the product.

Remember, NBC only has the media rights to Notre Dame home games. When the Fighting Irish are on the road, the TV rights belong to whoever the home team’s conference is partnered with. That means at most, NBC will have 8 games per year.

That’s a part-time schedule. It’s pretty easy for the network to justify part-time commitment.

Notre Dame’s media rights are not the most valuable in college football. The SEC and Big Ten command a much bigger price. And truthfully, if networks could do a deal with any single team in all of college football, year after year, Ohio State continues to prove it is TV’s most popular team.

None of that means that Notre Dame isn’t valuable. Again, I will reiterate, I do not like Notre Dame, but I recognize what they mean to the sport and that they have appeal in parts of the country some of the current powers do not.

Maybe Jac Collinsworth and Jason Garrett will be awesome. I hope they are, but the fact is that Notre Dame football is a TV property that is worth investing more in than just a “maybe.”

Demetri Ravanos

Demetri Ravanos is a former columnist and editor for Barrett Media. He is the creator of The Sports Podcast Festival, and a previous host of the Chewing Clock and Media Noise podcasts. He occasionally fills in on stations across the Carolinas in addition to hosting Panthers and College Football podcasts. His radio resume includes stops at WAVH and WZEW in Mobile, AL, WBPT in Birmingham, AL and WBBB, WPTK and WDNC in Raleigh, NC.

You can find him on Twitter @DemetriRavanos or reach him by email at DemetriTheGreek@gmail.com.