NBC Sports will have exclusive rights to broadcast Notre Dame
home football games through 2010 under a five-year contract extension.
The extension continues a relationship begun in 1991 and is expected
to quiet speculation that Notre Dame football would end its independence
and join a conference.
Financial terms of the deals have never been disclosed, but
the University acknowledges that most of the proceeds are funneled
into student financial aid. A press release said 111 undergraduates
at the University this year are receiving need-based scholarships
averaging $17,600 from an endowment funded by revenue from the
contract. Since the inception of that fund, 1,263 undergraduates
have received more than $12.6 million.
* * *
(April 2004)
