You are missing the forest for the trees

No idea what current viewership trends are.

If we are to believe the many, unconfirmed reports that the NBC deal brings in approx $15M/yr, ND is already well behind every other P5 team. As these deals are renegotiated in the coming years, we will fall further behind.

Live sports content commands a premium. As there are many more bidders today to serve this content (in addition to the usuals - ABC, CBS, NBC, ESPN, FOX - you now have Amazon, Netflix, Apple, Google, facebook, etc), the money is only going to go up, perhaps dramatically.

Maybe the estimates for the NBC deal are off. Regardless, I doubt ND will sit back and let this disparity go unchecked.