ACC reportedly aiming to leverage Notre Dame relationship with bigger matchups

The ACC and ESPN may have renewed their vows, but what does that mean for Notre Dame?

That probably wasn’t your first thought when ESPN announced it had picked up an option to extend ACC media rights through 2036. But with the Fighting Irish clinging to their independent status — despite James Franklin’s calls for uniformity in the College Football Playoff — their role in this deal, as a league member for non-football sports, is worth examining.

According to ESPN’s David Hale and Andrea Adelson, a key provision in the agreement is a commitment to creating more marquee football and men’s basketball matchups, maximizing the value of the ACC’s top brands.

ESPN’s reporting suggests that this effort could involve leveraging Notre Dame’s relationship with the conference.

Multiple athletic directors told ESPN this could also involve using the ACC’s relationship with Notre Dame to strategically create more games against the conference’s top-tier teams. Earlier this month, Notre Dame athletic director Pete Bevacqua said he was open to playing more games against Clemson in the future. Notre Dame currently plays five to six regular-season football games against the ACC annually and is a member of the ACC in all other sports.

Notre Dame’s current and past ACC matchups reflect that trend.

In 2024, they played Louisville, Stanford, Georgia Tech, Florida State and Virginia.

In 2025, they’ll open against Miami and face NC State, Boston College, Pittsburgh, Syracuse, and Stanford. After a September trip to Arkansas, they’ll close the season with five ACC opponents in their final six games (excluding only USC).

This isn’t entirely new, but Puck’s John Ourand noted in his newsletter that the ACC is now actively ensuring its marquee programs — Florida State, Clemson, and Miami — face Notre Dame more often. In the past, the Irish were more frequently matched against second-tier ACC teams like Wake Forest, Pitt and Cal.

For what it’s worth, Notre Dame did play Florida State this past season, but by the time the two faced off, the Seminoles were already 1-8 and left South Bend with a ninth loss in a 52-3 drubbing.

So, as the ACC continues to flex its power, Notre Dame may find that independence has its limits — especially when the conference is curating its most coveted matchups to which it’s only half-committed. That said, the ACC appears to be committed to making its top programs playing the Fighting Irish as the centerpiece of its future scheduling strategy, at least for football.