Notre Dame football is making their 2021 season opener exclusive to Peacock subscribers only. The network and University announced the changes to the TV schedule on Wednesday. Notre Dame vs. Toledo on Sept. 11 is now only available to Peacock subscribers; the rest of the 2021 home schedule is airing on both NBC and Peacock.
The school aired the annual Irish Blue-Gold Game this spring exclusively on Peacock.
“Dating back to airing Sunday football replays with Lindsey Nelson, we have always strived for innovation in the media space. Our partnership with NBC and Peacock only solidifies that mission,” Notre Dame director of athletics Jack Swarbrick said. “Bringing Notre Dame football to Peacock is just the next step in the evolution of our relationship.”
Notre Dame and NBC’s decision to make the season opener a Peacock-exclusive falls in line with the network’s other decisions around the OTT app. WWE pay-per-view events have been a big factor in subscriber growth over the past year, as has the Tokyo Olympics, where the men’s basketball games are airing on Peacock.
In South Bend, Notre Dame has been hard at work building up their new on-demand content service, Fighting Irish TV, which houses replays of Fighting Irish football games along with other exclusive content.
“Fighting Irish TV and Peacock shows the evolution of how media is consumed by our fans and television viewers, alike,” Swarbrick said. “… I see no better example of this than Peacock’s success in delivering fans wall-to-wall content during the Tokyo Olympics.”
Fighting Irish faithful are now tasked with adding another subscription service to their arsenal if they want to watch Notre Dame battle Toledo. Peacock is throwing its weight around with these exclusive offerings to stand out amongst its peers. With a fanbase the size of Notre Dame’s, it was only a matter of time before they incorporated those fans into subscriber growth.