Notre Dame's Unfathomable Payday From CFB Playoff Shows Irish Joining A Conference Would Be Foolish

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The biggest knock against Notre Dame football is that it is independent. The Fighting Irish not being affiliated with a conference has led many in the college football world to believe that the program gets preferential treatment. While that idea can still be (somewhat) up for debate, there is no denying that Notre Dame benefits far more from a monetary standpoint than other programs in today's college football.

The Fighting Irish already have the benefit of an exclusive media rights deal with NBC that provides Notre Dame $50 million annually. While the Notre Dame - NBC partnership has been intact for more than 30 years, the new-look College Football Playoff and the absurd influx of cash involved truly makes the Irish one of one.

The CFB Playoff awards millions of dollars to each conference represented in the 12-team bracket. When it's all said and done, those conferences will divide the amounts among schools as they see fit. With Notre Dame not being tied to a conference, it has the advantage of taking home every single dollar it earns.

According to Front Office Sports, Texas, Penn State, and Ohio State have earned $14 million for making it to the semifinals of the Playoff. Their dollars will go to the SEC and Big Ten, respectively, and spread throughout the conference.

Notre Dame has earned that exact same figure of $14 million and does not owe another team a penny of it. If the Irish beat Penn State and make it to the national championship game, it will earn another $6 million.

Notre Dame is raking in an unfathomable amount of money during its College Football Playoff run. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images)

Given that this is the current landscape of college football, and the only change that could ever possibly come to the Playoff format is adding even more teams, Notre Dame will understandably look to remain independent of a conference.

Notre Dame has earned more throughout the Playoff than the ACC with SMU and Clemson earning $8 million as well as the Big 12 and Mountain West with Arizona State and Boise State taking home $8 million as well. 

Oh, and it's worth noting that travel expenses aren't taken from these millions earned, conferences each get another $3 million per round to cover travel.

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Mark covers all sports at OutKick while keeping a close eye on the world of professional golf. He graduated from the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga before earning his master's degree in journalism from the University of Tennessee. He somehow survived living in Knoxville despite ‘Rocky Top’ being his least favorite song ever written. Before joining OutKick, he wrote for various outlets including SB Nation, The Spun, and BroBible. Mark was also a writer for the Chicago Cubs Double-A affiliate in 2016 when the team won the World Series. He's still waiting for his championship ring to arrive. Follow him on Twitter @itismarkharris.