Despite the big conferences stocking up on top teams in recent years, some of the biggest games in college football still come between historic rivals outside of the current conference system. That is why, according to a new report, Netflix recently set its sights on the annual Notre Dame-USC game in an effort to get in on live college football rights.
The effort was quickly shut down by Big Ten officials, per Puck’s John Ourand, but the details of what Netflix was cooking up are incredible. Because Notre Dame has its own TV deal with NBC and USC games fall under the Big Ten TV deals, Netflix had to get creative.
The streamer reportedly worked alongside USC representatives to relocate the game to a neutral site in Las Vegas or Mexico City, to circumvent the existing agreements. While Ourand’s takeaway from conversations around the Big Ten was that USC breached customs within the tradition and is seen as quite naive for its failed attempt to sell a one-off game to Netflix, the entire snafu provides far broader lessons around college football media.
As the College Football Playoff committee places greater emphasis on the strength of schedule, non-conference games are gaining increasing importance. The result has been that media voices and insiders are pushing teams to schedule more competitive opponents for these games. However, this only serves to bolster the value of each non-conference game to the broadcaster that airs it.
Given that these changes are being implemented in the midst of existing deals, network partners would theoretically own the rights to any major, future matchup that a Power 4 school books. Because it is an annual fixture, the Notre Dame-USC game is not a great example. But the idea that Netflix would spur change and encourage teams to push against conference rules should not come as a surprise.
As Ourand notes, Netflix wants significant events, whether that be the recent Terence Crawford fight, NFL games on Christmas, or the MLB Home Run Derby.
It doesn’t sound like athletic departments have much, if any, wiggle room under current deals. But as we look toward the next decade and the college football television landscape as the sport continues to grow, this ploy by Netflix and USC is sure to be a sign of things to come.
About Brendon Kleen
Brendon is a Media Commentary staff writer at Awful Announcing. He has also covered basketball and sports business at Front Office Sports, SB Nation, Uproxx and more.