I wonder

by Jeremy (WeIsND), Offices of Babip Pecota Vorp & Eckstein, Tuesday, May 19, 2026, 09:51 (6 days ago) @ Jay
edited by Jeremy (WeIsND), Tuesday, May 19, 2026, 09:57

How much this actually figures into their thinking. Obviously the dollars talk, but how much more money is the university/athletic department getting for an ND home game vs. a directional state school game? The ND game is more likely to sell out, but I'm sure some of the B1G/SEC schools also sell out their home openers against the tomato cans.

Not to mention, they aren't making as much in the years when they have to go to ND (or, insert challenging non-conf opponent).

I'd like to think that at some point, the TV networks start pushing back on the scheduling and demand that their partners play more interesting and competitive games. But that might just end up with the conferences continuing to add more conference games, rather than scheduling the NDs of the world.

EDIT - Thinking about this more, with the current surge-type pricing model for games, I expect there would be quite a difference in the intake for ND vs. Central Michigan, etc. So the hypocrisy seems pretty plain. But everyone seems to be grabbing for those playoff dollars rather than the money from an individual game.