With the bracket for the new 12-team College Football Playoff set, it’s now confirmed that fans are in for a broadcast rarity.
The Notre Dame Fighting Irish will play host to the Indiana Hoosiers in the first ever game of the expanded playoff. Kickoff is set for Friday, December 20th at 8:00 p.m. ET and will be broadcast on ESPN and ABC. And notably, the first ever game of the expanded playoff will also be the first Notre Dame home game not to air on NBC (or Peacock) since 1990.
According to a post by journalist Timothy Burke on Bluesky, the upcoming Indiana-Notre Dame game will be the first Fighting Irish home game to air on a non-NBC network since November 17th, 1990 when Notre Dame hosted Penn State in a game broadcast by ESPN. Ron Franklin, Gary Danielson, and Neil Lomax had the call on that day.
not counting peacock, November 17, 1990
— Timothy Burke (@bubbaprog.lol) December 8, 2024 at 1:05 PM
Notre Dame and NBC currently have a broadcast agreement that will see Fighting Irish home games remain on the network through 2029.
The unique nature of the new playoff format leaves the door open for more Notre Dame home games to air outside of the NBC umbrella in the future. Should the Fighting Irish finish seeded between five and eight as they did this season, ESPN or TNT, who sublicenses select first round CFP games from ESPN, would have another opportunity to air a game live from South Bend, Indiana.
About Drew Lerner
Drew Lerner is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and an aspiring cable subscriber. He previously covered sports media for Sports Media Watch. Future beat writer for the Oasis reunion tour.