College Football: How the ACC lures in Notre Dame as a full-time member

The College Football world could experience yet another seismic shift if the ACC found a way to lure Notre Dame into the conference as a full-time member.

The College Football world has been buzzing about conference realignment over the course of the last few weeks following the move made by Texas and Oklahoma to leave the Big 12 and join the SEC. 

Now, as we look towards the moves that the ACC could make and how those might affect Clemson football, the truth of the matter is that the conference has its sights set solely on the Fighting Irish.

How the ACC lures Notre Dame as a full-time member and make a ripple effect to the rest of College Football

The ACC has failed repeatedly at attempting to bring Notre Dame in as a football member in the past and that won’t be any easier now.

The Fighting Irish have no reason to join a conference and with the current recommendation for an expanded playoff, they actually would have even less of a reason.

So, what could the ACC– which gave up all its leverage last year– do to perhaps entice Notre Dame? The answer is simple: Show them the money.

In a College Football landscape where money matters, Notre Dame is actually falling behind when it comes to television revenue. The Fighting Irish have plenty of money, so don’t misconstrue what we’re saying, but their television revenue year-in and year-out is actually about $7 million less per year than the average ACC school.

Keeping that in mind, there are two things that must happen for the ACC to have a chance at bringing in Notre Dame:

1. It has to build brands outside of Clemson– ie. Miami, Florida State and Virginia Tech– to draw even higher ratings and increase its television revenue.
2. It has to move away from equal conference shares.

What if the conference could find a way to increase its revenue by driving up ratings and then offer Notre Dame a sweetened piece of the pie? Could that be enough for the Fighting Irish to jump ship from Independence?

In a world where College Football is changing, the days of equal revenue shares seem to be numbered. If the ACC could be proactive in making that change, it might finally have some leverage– potentially an estimated $15 million to even $20 million– to offer the Irish when you look at unequal shares.

If you then brought Notre Dame into the league, the ACC would have the power to renegotiate to gain an even better deal and then the conference could be off to the races in terms of its revenue increases.

It’s a fine line to walk and there’s not much more the ACC can offer right now other than good will and money, but perhaps the conference building itself up and making the change to allow earning potential to increase might be enough to lure the Irish.