“Unforgettable Moments:History-making Marcus Freeman and Notre Dame exploit unknown college football rule to net $20 million with CFP win
With a victory in the Orange Bowl, Marcus Freeman and his Fighting Irish clinched a spot in the national championship game, where they will face either the Ohio State Buckeyes or Texas Longhorns on January 20.
As the head coach of Notre Dame since 2021, Freeman will make history by being the first Black coach to guide his team to a Division I college football national championship game. Notre Dame will also receive a sizable financial payout after the victory.
Due to its independent football status, the Irish program will receive $20 million for winning the national championship, according to Front Office Sports.
The conference typically splits the prize money for earning a berth in the national championship, but as the Fighting Irish are not a conference, they are exempt from sharing their postseason earnings with other schools.
The $20 million payout would have been shared around the Big Ten league if Penn State had prevailed in the semifinal. After the victory over Penn State, Front Office Sports said on X, “Teams that make the CFP national championship earn $20 million for their conference.”
“Notre Dame has now made $20 million—and gets to keep it all because there is no conference to split it with.” The independence of Notre Dame as a school has been hotly debated for a long time.
