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There isn't much reason to remain independent; it seems simple vanity at this point.

Given the precipitous drop off in cable subscriptions I do not think they are going to keep that money train going for long.

especially for the sake of independence. Not so much about greed as it is a good business decision in today's environment.

The last numbers I saw had the football program at or near an annual $70 million profit. ND is unique and being independent is one of the corner stones of the program in my opinion. I love the freedom in scheduling it allows and the thought of having to share bowl revenue with conference bottom feeders does not sit well with me. The Irish should embrace the challenge of independence as opposed to the safety of a conference (which in my opinion rewards mediocrity - hello Kansas football). The Irish got more than $8 million for making the CFP last year and unlike the other 3 did not have to share a penny. At the very least, making a New Years 6 Bowl will pay the Irish close to that as well so I see no reason to join a football conference. No way Rutgers or Oregon State or Indiana or Vandy or any other scrub team should get a piece of what the Irish earned.

there are administrative changes----at both the executive level and, perhaps more importantly, at the board level. Notre Dame has / is showing that it can compete effectively in football and in the classroom but we've all seen administrators over the years want to de-emphasize football and let academics steer the ship instead. ND Football pays alot of bills.

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Link: https://collegefootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2018/06/21/big-ten-revenue-distribution-hits-51-million/

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Context is important. The ND endowments stands at $13B. That's a 'B'. The amount our endowment earns annually amounts to a rounding error when compared to the financial detriment of independence.

If the endowment earns only 5%, that's $650M. Foresake our identity, flexibility, status....the core of what made us who we are, for $40M or so a year? That would be pure greed. And we'd lose so much.

I would be interested in better understanding

Why should we give up our independence?

What do we lose? All of our other sports are in a conference

What exactly does it get us for football?

Nothing.

It gets us nothing right now except the continued reputation of being a bunch of pretentious assholes

I’m not adverse to ND joining a conference, but I find the take that ND staying Independent makes anyone look like “pretentious assholes” to be bizarre.

the non-ND people I speak with. I am not saying I feel that way; just that the very, very small subset of people I speak to think it makes us look like assholes

Kind of like telling Navy to stop cut blocking or we will stop playing them

We have had a mediocre football team for nearly 30 years with some periodic good to very good teams

But somehow we think we need to maintain our independence

I guess they feel that is the epitome of pretentiousness? Perhaps? I dont know

What proof do you have that the reason we are the most hated/loved team is because we aren't in a conference? Because people in conferences tell you? Can you cite anything more than your anecdotal perceptions? I think it has to do with a lot of other things - being reasonably successful at a number of sports, while trying to be reasonably Catholic, for example. Being Catholic is a part of who we are, and it does make things difficult for us when it comes to butt-kissing a lot of mainstream opinion. But I don't have proof either, that this is really the issue. But your argument - "they will all like us more in a conference" - seems just like, well, your opinion, man.

And they will tell you we look like assholes for maintaining this independence

Pompous pricks.

I have yet to see anyone answer my question. What does it get us?

Yeah, it's my opinion and that of many other people not associated with this message board. I dont live my life by what the people on this board say

And write it down, we will drop the independence within the next 2-4 years. It's almost a guarantee, and I suppose you'll start crying when that happens.

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Question. Is the endowment all or substantially limited to academics (If you know) ? Wonder if CFP and conference championships will one day weigh in favor of joining? How many 11-1/miss the playoffs seasons will ND base tolerate? Thanks for pointing out those numbers.

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My brother and I had this very discussion recently. Consider;

ND undergrad enrollment - 8,600
ND Tuition - $55K
Total Undergrad Tuition - $473M

The endowment would need to earn 3.6% to cover all tuition.

Why not just charge Room & Board and make tuition free? Or, means test the cost for attendees and dramatically lower tuition.

Of course this is overly simplistic and the endowment is used to fund a myriad of programs, but it's a discussion that has merit.

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See link for how it works at Havard

Link: https://college.harvard.edu/financial-aid/how-aid-works

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