By the time No. 7 Notre Dame took the field against Indiana to open the 1991 season, the panic around NBC broadcasting Irish home games had begun to subside. That 49-27 Notre Dame victory stands now as a footnote in history, the first game in an exclusive deal that will reach its 30th year exactly 30 Saturdays from now when the Irish meet Arkansas, but that footnote lingers for a reason.
Beating the Hoosiers marked the implementation of a reality that would supposedly spell the end of times for college football. As Sports Illustrated quoted Arkansas athletic director Frank Broyles, the five-year, $38 million contract elicited “Surprise, shock, greed and ultimate greed.