There are die hard fans that live in the area. That is absolutely correct. No doubt that ND has a very solid and passionate fan base around the campus and in major cities where there are a lot of alumni like New York City and Chicago. However, the ratings on TV are mostly because of hype for games and prime time spots. I live in the Boston area and have never met a ND fan that does not have a direct connection to the school. One would think Boston could be a place where ND would be popular because of the Irish Catholic connection and no natural college football team to root for but a very passionate football fan base (it's just a fact for BC unfortunately. i rooted for them growing up and it was embarrassing because the fan support was so bad) There's going to be basically no support in places where college football is big and there are major state schools to root for. There are plenty of eye balls watching ND play because people love college football and ND is on prime time against many good opponents, but they are not fans of ND. Again, ND is special because of the TV network connection. I'm not saying that if they lose that than they fall off the face of the earth. I'm saying they will drop back into the 2nd tier of teams with very good local fan support and tradition. ND has disadvantages like being a small religious affiliated school and fairly isolated in a cold environment. So recruiting will be tougher for them in a lot of ways than USC, Miami, or Texas. That doesn't mean that tradition, fan support, and academics won't draw recruits. However, you would have to be extremely optimistic to think ND could compete on equal ground with the top 10 teams in the country. It is well documented that recruits choose ND because of the TV exposure they get. It's obvious why a recruit would still choose ND if they were a part of the big 10 over schools like UConn, Wake forest, or even Indiana. But why would they choose ND over Michigan or Stanford? Its seems like Michigan and Stanford can offer everything ND can, but also give a different college experience that most athletes would prefer. This transition wouldn't' happen over night. There would still be about 5 years after joining a conference that ND would enjoy their advantages, but that would begin to fade soon after.
Sorry, but those are a lot of typed words to be so fundamentally wrong.
Are you trying to convince yourself?
ND was special and popular before television existed and will be for a very long time in the future, conference affiliation or not.
I have seen and heard this kind of stuff my whole life (I am 56), yet ND is still very popular and very financially successful.
ND recruits well, but not because it is on NBC. Funny, I keep hearing that ND's advantage there has been eroded because today "everyone is on TV", yet ND keeps signing highly rated classes.
Most kids talk about academics, tradition and the good feeling they get when they visit the campus when they commit to ND, more so than mentioning the NBC deal.
Those 80,975 folks who travel from all over the country to see ND play don't do so because ND has an NBC contract.
Local fan support has very little to do with ND's ratings, attendance, leading apparel contract or other barometers of success.
Neither does alumni support. It is the support of multi-generational (mostly) Catholic families around the country that pass on their loyalty and love of ND to their kids and grandkids.
My Irish born, emigrant grandfather who ended up a coal miner near Pittsburgh became an ND fan when the Irish beat Army in 1913. Every member of my very large, extended family have been fans of Notre Dame ever since.
100 years, everyone, aunts, uncles, nephews, nieces, cousins, grandchildren, you name it.
My parents went to an ND game for their honeymoon in 1939. My brother started his letters home from South Vietnam in the fall of 1966 with the question "How did the Irish do?"
My nephew serving in Afghanistan last year got ND gear sent to him there to outfit the Afghan National Police he was training and serving with.
His daughter is 16 and is a huge ND fan, despite living in Alabama (next to Fort Benning) for most of her life. They now live near Fort Lewis, Washington and my nephew flies an ND flag from his house and has an ND sticker on his bumper.
Go to any ND home game and check the license plates of the cars in the parking lots. Check the number of private planes from all over the country.
I graduated from LSU Law School. My two sons graduated from LSU's School of Engineering. We don't like LSU athletics, will not travel eight miles to watch LSU play but will drive 1000 miles to attend an ND home game.
My oldest son and I are driving 7 hours from Baton Rouge to San Antonio this weekend to see ND play teams like Santa Clara and Gonzaga in baseball at the annual "Irish Classic" that ND sponsors there every spring.
We will drive past Alex Box Stadium where LSU plays baseball, about eight miles from my house. No interest in seeing the Tigers, but I and my family members drive to San Antonio, Corpus Christi and Houston to see ND baseball.
We get 14-18 family members from Louisiana, Alabama, Florida, Pennsylvania and Maryland to travel to an ND home football game every other year. We meet up and rent a house near the stadium for the weekend.
Families like mine exist all over the country.
That popularity and loyalty is present from coast to coast and would not "fade soon after" if ND joined the ACC in football. It is ingrained.
P.S. You don't think that ABC/ESPN would nationally televise most/all ND football games if it joined the ACC?
You don't think that maybe the ACC would agree to carve out the NBC contract if ND ever agreed to play eight or nine ACC games per year?