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The Notre Dame Fighting Irish came within inches of securing their 12th National Championship and putting an end to a 37-year drought, but they would end up suffering their first defeat of the season, losing 34-23 to Ohio State Buckeyes in Atlanta. It was a humbling blow for Notre Dame, a team that, despite not playing in a Power 4 conference (or any conference for that matter), has nevertheless emerged as one of the most beloved and successful teams in college football.
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In fact, according to The Athletic’s Matt Baker, Notre Dame are valued at a project price of $1.85 billion in a hypothetical scenario that would see college football programs go up for sale, factoring in “everything from prestige and championships to facility renovations, population trends and realignment scenarios. That means treating Notre Dame more like the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston College more like the Kansas City Royals.”
This value sees them sit third in the overall standings behind Ohio State, who would sell for a reported $1.9 billion, as well as Georgia ($1.92b) and Texas ($2.38b), with Michigan trailing in hot pursuit at $1.83 billion. Only Texas ($183m) and Georgia ($140m) are generating a higher average football revenue than Notre Dame ($143m), a number which doesn’t reflect their increased TV revenue thanks to their contract extension with NBC.
After a stellar postseason run, it’s likely that Notre Dame’s value is only going to continue growing after surpassing the billion-dollar mark. Whilst their reported $1.9 billion market value pales in comparison to soccer powerhouses like Manchester City ($5.1 billion), Paris Saint-Germain ($4.4 billion) and Bayern Munich ($5 billion), it nevertheless puts them in strong position amongst the best college programs in the United States.