In assessing ND's popularity their name resonates very strongly with 50+ people in this country, solidly to very good with 40+, but I would argue a mere shadow of what it once was with people in their 30's and less.
I'm not here to say ND is irrelevant or will be in the next decade, but if Brian Kelly cannot restore ND football to prominence in the next 5 yrs it becomes harder and harder to restore the greatness the program once had. They used to be associated in sports with the Yankees, Cowboys, Celtics/Lakers in terms of name appeal. It just is not the same and will decline further if it doesn't turn around in the next 5 yrs.
I think it is much safer to say the Brand name of the Big 10(or whatever we call it, lol) will be the premier college sports brand 20-30 yrs from now, I don't think you can say the same about ND. Again, not saying they would be irrelevant but definitely not having the cache they once did.
Successful orgainizations can and do change with time. If ND doesn't see the economic value of joining the Big 10 and jump aboard now, I wonder if the Big 10 should want to stick the knife in ND and try and accelerate that decline through various moves, increasing their own value even more?
I'm not here to say ND is irrelevant or will be in the next decade, but if Brian Kelly cannot restore ND football to prominence in the next 5 yrs it becomes harder and harder to restore the greatness the program once had. They used to be associated in sports with the Yankees, Cowboys, Celtics/Lakers in terms of name appeal. It just is not the same and will decline further if it doesn't turn around in the next 5 yrs.
I think it is much safer to say the Brand name of the Big 10(or whatever we call it, lol) will be the premier college sports brand 20-30 yrs from now, I don't think you can say the same about ND. Again, not saying they would be irrelevant but definitely not having the cache they once did.
Successful orgainizations can and do change with time. If ND doesn't see the economic value of joining the Big 10 and jump aboard now, I wonder if the Big 10 should want to stick the knife in ND and try and accelerate that decline through various moves, increasing their own value even more?