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It's all about the dollars, and--as noted--ND brings more than anyone else on the list.

I wonder if ND would have too much pride and tell the Big Ten to kick rocks, as they did in the 1990s. Although the ROI in the 90s was probably much smaller.

And as I've noted before, all this animosity towards ND for its having built its own, national brand can be tied directly back to Michigan--specifically Fielding Yost--not wanting to have to compete with ND and not wanting a Catholic university in the conference. So save your bitterness for Michigan and Yost.

(I know you won't--it's ok, you're entitled to your petty grievances, just like I am--but maybe make a little extra space for some anger at Michigan for having caused it.)

And as I've noted before, all this animosity towards ND for its having built its own, national brand can be tied directly back to Michigan--specifically Fielding Yost--not wanting to have to compete with ND and not wanting a Catholic university in the conference. So save your bitterness for Michigan and Yost.

(I know you won't--it's ok, you're entitled to your petty grievances, just like I am--but maybe make a little extra space for some anger at Michigan for having caused it.)

Seems to be a theme today, it came up in another thread also but always remember, EVERYTHING bad is Michigan's fault.  

Is ND's fan base going to have a bubble in 10-20 years, in terms of aging out?  Morbid, I know, but the golden domers are not special to anyone under the age of 35.  Their privileged status probably seems really odd to most, actually.

I missed this post until @medinabuckeye1 quoted it... 

But I think that a good portion of Notre Dame's historic fandom has been from people who didn't go to college and couldn't find South Bend on a map... But they were either Irish or Catholic (or both), and so they were Notre Dame fans. Historically both populations were somewhat denigrated in American society. The Irish and Italians were seen as "lesser" than other Europeans, leading to centralizing in more working-class and/or civil service jobs. And Catholics were similarly distrusted, as we saw with JFK and concerns that he'd be more beholden to the Pope and the Vatican than he would be to America and the Constitution. Nothing crystalizes a marginalized population more than a common champion, and I think the Notre Dame Fighting Irish fit that mold. 

I think from a demographic perspective, the under-35 set is less religious than they were 40 years ago. And I'd say those who ostensibly identify as Catholic are probably nowhere near as fervent about Catholicism being their "identity" than they were 40 years ago... So the allure of rooting for Notre Dame just because it's a Catholic school maybe is less of a draw. 

Being in California for the last 25 years, where there isn't a massive Irish-identity population (i.e. not like NY or Chicago), I can't really say whether the aspect of being "Irish" as core identity has similarly diluted. But I might think that if it has, then it would be another reason why Notre Dame fandom would be naturally waning in the younger generations. 

While most fan bases have some natural perpetuity in graduating alumni, being close family of graduated alumni, etc, Notre Dame never had that. It was always driven by cultural identity. I think it's possible that draw is simply getting weaker as some of those core identity signifiers weaken. 

It's all about the dollars, and--as noted--ND brings more than anyone else on the list.

I wonder if ND would have too much pride and tell the Big Ten to kick rocks, as they did in the 1990s. Although the ROI in the 90s was probably much smaller.

And as I've noted before, all this animosity towards ND for its having built its own, national brand can be tied directly back to Michigan--specifically Fielding Yost--not wanting to have to compete with ND and not wanting a Catholic university in the conference. So save your bitterness for Michigan and Yost.

(I know you won't--it's ok, you're entitled to your petty grievances, just like I am--but maybe make a little extra space for some anger at Michigan for having caused it.)

You don't think that we direct enough anger and bitterness towards the Wolverines?