It is in Texas.
You don’t have to look far to figure out what ND’s future media situation will look like. Texas has laid out the blueprint by signing a huge, $300M deal for the Longhorn Network with ESPN and IMG.
The deal will net UT about $15M per year, plus some kind of likely rev-share on advertising and ancillary business. It’s a huge development, though one that DMQ called a while back. Per DMQ’s theory, expect this to push more teams toward independence, and watch the superconferences fall one by one.
No word in the article on what the footprint of the Longhorn Network will be, but it will likely start regional and grow from there. ND can very easily use this as a blueprint for a future ND Network, which could capture a more national footprint pretty quickly given the nationwide fan base. While the NBC deal is lucrative and still ongoing, I would expect Swarbrick and Jenkins to explore the viability of an independent network, or something done in conjunction with NBC, sooner rather than later.Powered by Sidelines