Will Notre Dame join a conference? Amid Stanford and Cal failing to join the ACC expansion, exploring future options for the program
The Notre Dame Fighting Irish have had the luxury of being part of the Atlantic Coast Conference while being an independent football program. However, that has not stopped conferences from wanting to have the Irish under their banners.
Currently, the university is a partial member of the ACC as it is part of the conference in all sports but college football. They have the same voting power as any other program in the conference as a result. However, rumors have been swirling about Notre Dame football joining a conference, and the speculation has people trying to make sense of things.
Whichever conference can eventually land the Fighting Irish would get an immediate impactful expansion team under their umbrella. The question remains if Notre Dame would want to do so and what conferences they would be interested in joining.
What will Notre Dame do?
The Notre Dame Fighting Irish football program has been independent since its inception. However, things seem to be trending toward the program joining a conference for the first time. It is being reported that the Fighting Irish are expecting to see an increase in their media rights deal and to be close to $60 million per year when their current deal expires after the 2024 season.
It is unlikely that the singular college football program is going to be able to generate that sort of income without being part of a conference. One likely scenario is the Fighting Irish joining the Atlantic Coast Conference as they are already members in the conference in every other sport. They could use this as negotiation to get another few schools along as well like Cal and Stanford.
Another interesting move in conference realignment would be seeing the university join the Big Ten. The Big Ten continues to expand and prove to be one of the biggest forces nationally in college athletics and already will see the USC Trojans and UCLA Bruins joining for the 2024 season.
Having the Fighting Irish be part of a 2025 expansion would be stellar for the health of the program, and the media rights deal is on par with what they are expecting.
Just because the Notre Dame football program has been independent does not mean it will always be that. With major shifts in conference realignment and seeing conferences become more national instead of local, having the Fighting Irish could be lucrative for both sides.