On your local NBC affiliate for more than two decades, Notre Dame home football games won’t be going anywhere for the foreseeable future as well.
The NBC Sports Group and the Fighting Irish announced Thursday they have reached an agreement on a renewal that will keep a minimum of seven Irish home football games on the network through the 2025 season. This agreement marks the first 10-year extension between the two entities; all other extensions had been of the five-year variety.
The previous extension was set to expire following the 2015 season.
“While our relationship with NBC Sports is longstanding, the more recent merger between NBC and Comcast has opened up additional avenues to expand the breadth of Notre Dame-related sports programming on NBC platforms,” said Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick in a statement. “Specifically, the evolution of the NBC Sports Network has provided opportunities for special programming featuring inside looks at our football team and several other Notre Dame sports programs and in-depth profiles on the unsung heroes of Notre Dame athletics. These are examples of the growth of our partnership, and we look forward to collaborating on additional projects and distribution strategies in seasons to come.”
NBC first broadcast Irish games way back in 1991.
The new agreement allows games to be broadcast on the NBC Sports Network, the release states. As has been the case since 2009, NBC Sports Digital will continue to live stream all Fighting Irish home games.
“Coming off one of Notre Dame’s best and most dramatic seasons in decades, we could not be more proud to extend this historic partnership, which continues to be one of the most innovative in sports-media history,” said Mark Lazarus, Chairman, NBC Sports Group. “We are particularly excited that this extension offers enhanced rights that allow us to bring Notre Dame Football to fans on more platforms than ever before.