College football thrives on drama. Whether it’s coaches changing teams during the season, players racing to the transfer portal for gobs of cash, or conferences discarding long-standing traditions. This year, the biggest spectacle didn’t come from a sideline meltdown but from Notre Dame’s decision to forgo postseason play after a 10–2 campaign and a ten-game winning streak, even as the sport’s new 12-team College Football Playoff left them at the doorstep. The Irish, college football’s most storied independent, chose to pout and stay home rather than compete in a bowl, igniting debates about the consequences for bowl season as a whole.
To gauge the real impact of Notre Dame’s absence, it’s crucial to recognize the program’s stature. Valued at $1.85 billion—fourth only to Texas, Georgia, and Ohio State—and generating around $143 million in annual revenue, Notre Dame isn’t just a football team; it’s an institution with nationwide reach and its own longstanding NBC TV contract.
NBC’s coverage of Notre Dame, while not quite the juggernaut of decades past, still commands significant viewership:
- Recent seasons averaged 3.49 million viewers—the best in years.
- The 2025 Texas A&M–Notre Dame clash drew 6.2 million, peaking at 9.4 million.
- On August 31, Miami–Notre Dame on ESPN pulled a robust 10.8 million viewers. (Miami won 27–24, which is why the Hurricanes are in and the Irish are out of the playoff.)
In short, Notre Dame still moves the needle—just not quite to the level they once did.
If the Irish were left out of the playoff party, most projections had Notre Dame meeting BYU in the Pop-Tarts Bowl—a prime-time holiday showcase one could only describe as the “Religious Super Bowl.” Headlines practically wrote themselves. Television producers were ready for the meme potential of “Mormons vs. Catholics.” But when Notre Dame was slotted as the “first team out” (No. 11 in a 12-team field), they opted out entirely, leaving the Pop-Tarts Bowl with a top-25 matchup of BYU vs. Georgia Tech.
While still a solid pairing, the game lost some of its made-for-TV sizzle. The question is: Did that really hurt bowl season?
In terms of viewership, the Pop-Tarts Bowl has been a strong performer regardless of participants. Last year’s Iowa State 42–41 thriller over Miami drew 6.8 million viewers—the bowl’s best number since 2008 and the highest non–New Year’s Six (NY6) bowl audience for ESPN in years. Most mid-tier bowls average between 2.7 and 4.4 million viewers, but the Pop-Tarts Bowl typically lands in the 6–7 million range.
Notre Dame’s recent mid-level bowl appearances have also been ratings wins. The 2022 Gator Bowl featuring the Irish drew 5.8 million viewers—the top non-NY6 figure in nearly a decade. Had Notre Dame played BYU, the game likely would have stretched to 7.5 or even 8 million viewers, especially with the “Mormons vs. Catholics” promotional push.
But even with the Irish absent, BYU–Georgia Tech is expected to attract 5–6 million viewers—a figure that surpasses every NBA game that week, every NHL contest for the year, and nearly any non-NFL sports broadcast. The takeaway: Notre Dame raises the ceiling but doesn’t set the floor. Bowl season doesn’t collapse without them; it simply misses out on a few extra memes and a modest ratings bump.
Some fans and columnists have speculated that ESPN, which holds the rights to both the SEC and the College Football Playoff, may have subtly influenced Notre Dame’s exclusion. After all:
- The SEC landed five teams in the playoff.
- Notre Dame’s home games air on NBC, not ESPN.
- ESPN’s financial interests are intertwined with both the SEC and the playoff.
However, the reality isn’t as complicated or juicy:
- Miami beat Notre Dame head-to-head, providing the selection committee with a clear tiebreaker.
- ESPN has benefited from Notre Dame’s ratings, especially with last year’s 17.8 million–viewer Orange Bowl win over Penn State.
- Several of Notre Dame’s road and neutral-site games still air on ESPN.
While ESPN certainly roots for the SEC—given its $300 million annual investment—it also values Notre Dame’s drawing power. The network isn’t trying to exclude the Irish; it’s trying to maximize the overall appeal of its football inventory. Sometimes what looks like conspiracy is simply a confluence of business interests and competitive outcomes.
Notre Dame skipping the Pop-Tarts Bowl is like Taylor Swift skipping the Grammys. It makes the event a bit less glitzy and dramatic, but the show goes on. The Irish’s absence may cost the bowl 10–20% of its potential audience and some marketing opportunities, but the overall bowl season remains robust.
From last bowl season:
- Mid-tier bowls averaged over 2.7 million viewers.
- Top non-NY6 matchups drew 4–7 million.
- Nearly 200 million total bowl viewers tuned in across the season.
College football fans tune in for the bowls because they’re tradition, comfort food, and readily available entertainment—regardless of which teams participate.
Notre Dame’s bowl-season sit-out doesn’t upend the sport. It won’t crater ESPN’s ratings or financials. It doesn’t even “ruin” the Pop-Tarts Bowl; it just made the sugar rush a little less intense. The real legacy of Notre Dame’s absence is a reminder of what bowls have become: content, inventory, and football-themed television programming. In this case when the $1.85 billion brand chooses to abstain, it’s about protest and pride. But more teams in the future will opt out, like Iowa State, Kansas State and Baylor did this season. Key players have been doing it for years now, protecting their bodies for the NFL draft.
As long as there’s football on TV—and a dancing pastry mascot—the bowls will continue to draw viewers. That happens with or without Notre Dame’s blessing. The Irish can sulk, stay home, and overvalue their importance in this ever-evolving college football landscape. The rest of us will still be watching.
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