Notre Dame has been playing football for 135 years and along the way some momentous decisions were made to shape the history of this storied program now entering a daring new phase of college sports. This off-season, we look back at the 10 best decisions made for the Fighting Irish in the decades past.

#3
The NBC Television Deal

Ahead of the game, controversial, and the first domino to fall in the wider control from television and media over college football. Over 34 years ago, Notre Dame dove head first into the sports media money machine with a historic television deal that sent shockwaves through college sports.

All the way back in 1977, Notre Dame joined teams from the ACC, Big 8, SEC, Southwestern, WAC, plus independents Army, Navy, Air Force, Penn State, Pittsburgh, and West Virginia to form the College Football Association (CFA) in an effort to negotiate their own television deals separate from the NCAA’s decision making and control.

When the first CFA television deals were agreed upon, the NCAA filed suit and in the landmark NCAA vs. Board of Regents of University of Oklahoma case the Supreme Court ruled that the NCAA’s television control violated the Sherman Antitrust Act.

In 1984, with free control from the NCAA and deregulation, the CFA signed TV deals with ABC and CBS while the Big Ten and Pac-10 sold their own packages separately to ABC.

The 4th game broadcast in the ND-NBC TV deal.

Just over 6 years later, the CFA was in the process of negotiating a new deal. In October of 1989 (with Notre Dame the current undefeated National Champions and on a long winning streak) a new CFA deal with ESPN for 5 years and $110 million was agreed upon, followed up by another deal with ABC for 5 years and $210 million a few months later in January 1990.

All seemed well, except Notre Dame did not agree to the new deals.

The Fighting Irish leadership were frustrated by all but the 3 Notre Dame-USC home games in South Bend in the new contract being shown regionally instead of nationally. Notre Dame athletic director Dick Rosenthal said at the time, “It would almost be better for us not to be on [television] than to be on in only part of the country.”

Notre Dame wouldn’t wait long to make a move. Just 10 days after the CFA-ABC deal, the Irish negotiated a fresh 5-year deal with NBC to nationally televise all Notre Dame football home games. Terms of the deal were not disclosed but it was rumored to pay $10 million per year (roughly $24 million in today’s money) and would begin in with the 1991 football season.

The CFA was not long for this world after Notre Dame’s decision. In 1995, the SEC and Big East negotiated its own TV deal with CBS and the 1996 college football season would be the last for the CFA members collectively. Notre Dame had kicked down the door and the 1990’s would include ABC/ESPN overcoming the changes to tighten their grip over the sport with massive television and media deals signed all over the college football landscape like with the 1998 deal between ABC and the newly created BCS for $930 million over 8 seasons.

For Notre Dame, it was a pioneering move that felt a little ahead of its time but also something that many could’ve and should’ve seen coming. More importantly, the decision to sign with NBC–while frustrating at times today that they are still in a relationship that isn’t always perfect–has tremendously helped Notre Dame to stay independent in football and continue to have a powerful bargaining chip as a national brand in the playoff era of the sport.