Notre Dame Launches Free Streaming Service - Fighting Irish TV
Wake up the echoes. Notre Dame has entered the streaming world with the introduction of Fighting Irish TV. This free streaming service is available for download on Google Play, Apple TV, and Amazon. Once the season begins, games can be streamed via the Fighting Irish TV app.
Notre Dame’s Spring Game is scheduled for May 1. This game can be watched on-demand in the Fighting Irish TV app and on Peacock. In addition, the app will feature archived games as well as coaches’ commentary.
To create Fighting Irish TV, Notre Dame partnered with WMT, a Miami-based web developer. WMT has worked with other collegiate sports organizations, including LSU, Clemson, Kansas, and the University of Miami, in the past. Notre Dame has agreed to a multi-year deal with WMT.
Fred Villarruel, Notre Dame’s digital platform manager, said, “No other program in college football can do what we can when it comes to media rights. We have the partnership with NBC, and so we own all the rights to our own games. There’s no other school that can do that. It just makes sense for us to be able to have our own OTT platform where we can house all of our archival content.”
As of right now, Villarruel isn’t disclosing the game plan for bringing in revenue from the service. The focus seems to be on building a connection with Notre Dame fans. As a result of the pandemic, Notre Dame began offering some online content throughout 2020. Since it was a success, it made sense to expand into a separate streaming service.
In a statement, Sr. Associate Athletics Director (Media/Brand) Rob Kelly said, “We’re excited to launch Fighting Irish TV and provide Notre Dame fans an even better way to watch their favorite Fighting Irish content on the big screen in their living room. As in all things we do, we look at how to better serve our fans and this opportunity to be a leader in the television application space with our archived content was no different. I’m especially excited by the extension of our existing digital ecosystem that this platform makes possible in a world increasingly dominated by on-demand viewing.”