The Price Of Immortality… Errr… Independence

First off, let me just say that the mere fact that we are talking about BK having discussions with NBC a week and a half from the start of the season about TV timeouts is beyond encouraging. It’s not the subject matter, but the fact that what people said about Kelly is being confirmed. His attention to detail, and his ability to get involved in all things team related is what has made him a winner, and now- more than ever, I understand why he is believed to be the “savior” of Notre Dame football…

Many Irish fans- and Irish haters have long criticized NBC for the way they broadcast Notre Dame football games. Critics have stated that the placement of the TV timeouts kill a lot of momentum created by either Notre Dame, or their opponent, during the course of the game.

Critics? Actually, everyone. You have either been at the game in the Bend or watching it on TV and as the excitement of a game builds- you just feel NBC shut it down with a 4 minute commercial break with the same commercials that they showed 10 minutes ago during their last 4 minute commercial break. Not only is it frustrating- it’s mind-numbing.

BK talked about the “model” that ESPN/ABC has created, as the model to shoot for, but that meeting halfway on this topic was progress. It’s true. Games on ESPN/ABC have better paced games, but they also have better production and a better announcing crew. However…

If you go back and look at the length of the Notre Dame games on NBC and compare them to the length of Notre Dame games on another network (regulation only) you will find that they run very closely in terms of time. I don’t have the data in fromt of me, but it is more of how and when NBC makes their ad dollars, as opposed to the time frame.

This is the price of being an Independent, and not just an Independent, but being Notre Dame and being an Independent. You have options, but those options aren’t always in your best interest since the other party is looking to exploit the opportunity to cover the games to make as much dough as possible.

This Tweet from John Walters kind of sums it up for me:

If ND Nation wants Notre Dame to remain Independent, which 98% of us do, than we all just have to swallow a little bit of the shit that is fed to us. Notre Dame has a TV deal unlike any other in college football, and it shows by how NBC- and other networks carry the game.

Colin Cowherd likes to say that it is no big deal that Notre Dame has NBC  as “it’s” own network. He claims that everybody is on TV 8 games a year. Well, Cowherd is wrong. Notre Dame is on NATIONAL television on one of the Big 4 networks 8 times a year- let alone the other 4 games that are at least regional broadcasts on ABC and ESPN, and its national broadcast of the Navy game on CBS every other year. We get more face time- and it’s not even close.

So what does that all mean? Like I said, we will have to swallow a little bit of the repression from NBC and others because ND is such a huge sell. It is one of the main components to Notre Dame being able to remain Independent. However, the foresight of Brian Kelly to reach out, along with Jack Swarbrick, to NBC and at least try to bring about a change that would help not only the Notre Dame program- but the production of the game from a fans standpoint.

That is the price of Immortality.