Notre Dame and Clemson To Play Every Year: Why This New Football Deal Matters

The ACC needs a boost

If we are being honest, the ACC has taken a step back in recent seasons as a conference. From being locked into a bad TV contract, schools looking to leave the conference altogether - although that stalled now - and a lack of producing high-caliber teams, the ACC has seen better days.

Having Clemson, one of the few teams that moves the needle from the ACC matching up with Notre Dame yearly is terrific for the profile of the conference overall.

Clemson will get more money

As the ACC tries to address its revenue and TV deal concerns, it has shifted to a new TV money payout model. ACC teams that draw bigger TV numbers than others will be paid out a bigger piece of the pie, rather than an equally divided split between all teams regardless of the viewership numbers.

Notre Dame puts bodies in seats and eyes on the TV. That has always been true and will always be true. In this aspect, this deal is a guaranteed home run for Clemson.

Does Notre Dame have a new yearly rival?

From the Irish end, this deal feels to me to be an attempt from new AD Pete Bevacqua to ensure the Irish have a brand-name team on the schedule every year to build a heated rivalry with in anticipation of USC not renewing the series beyond 2026, which is the final time the Trojans and Irish are technically scheduled to face off.

If USC does indeed decide that their B10 schedule is too tough to be able to afford to add the possibility of a non-conference loss by playing Notre Dame yearly, Clemson would be a fine replacement for year-to-year battles, but it won't be nearly as fulfilling.

Notre Dame vs Clemson is a budding modern rivalry built on respect. Notre Dame vs USC is an old-school rivalry built on hatred and disdain for the values the other represents. Nothing can replace this yearly battle of competing ways of life and values.

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