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Notre Dame home opener to be broadcast exclusively on Peacock

photos -jpgby:Ashton Pollard•08/04/21•

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Notre Dame will open its home slate on Sept. 11 against Toledo, but the game will not be in its normal NBC slot. Peacock, NBCUniversal’s streaming service, will exclusively broadcast the game between the Fighting Irish and the Rockets. 

Since 1991, Notre Dame home games have been on NBC as part of a $15 million contract which ends in 2025. Notre Dame’s other six home games will be available on both NBC and Peacock. The television deal has been a staple of the Fighting Irish’s conference independence, as they are the only program in the country with a national television deal. 

Are streaming services like Peacock the future of college sports?

The Peacock news was first reported by Yahoo! Sports’ Pete Thamel, who commented that the change may be a look at how television and media deals are shifting from traditional networks to streaming services. 

“In an era of college athletics where streaming services will factor significantly into upcoming rights deals and potential realignment moves, the exclusive streaming broadcast is a potential early peek into how streaming will impact college sports,” Thamel said. 

Many companies are now launching their streaming services with “plusses,” such as Disney’s Disney+ and ESPN+ or CBS’ Paramount+. Last December, the 49ers-Cardinals game was streamed nationally on Amazon Prime and was available exclusively to its members. 

Irish athletic director Jack Swarbrick, known as a leader in the ever-evolving college sports landscape, discussed Notre Dame’s relationship with Peacock in a press release on Wednesday. 

“Bringing Notre Dame Football to Peacock is just the next step in the evolution of our relationship,” Swarbrick said. “Fighting Irish TV and Peacock shows the evolution of how media is consumed by our fans and television viewers, alike.”

Fighting Irish TV is a video platform the school launched in April. The service has a menu of player interviews, highlights from various sports and past football games in their entirety.

The platform has been very successful and is currently available for free on Apple TV, Android TV and Amazon. According to Sports Business Journal, the service generated over 58,000 minutes of viewing during its first day last April. Because of its immense popularity, the school is considering creating paid subscriptions for the channel.

Image courtesy of Elsa/Getty Images