ND "Shamrock Series" it is likely equal to or more than the buyout on the agreement. Really it's that simple guys. This game is part of ND's contract, not ours, so they get the NBC money. We gave them two home games for which they were also already paid. They have to pay the buyout to NOT play us, and so:
We would not have agreed to play them neutral site on their TV contract instead of at our home, part of our TV contract, without a payout larger than (or at a minimum equal to) whatever the buyout was. So if we had taken the buyout we would 1) have made less or the same money; and 2) NOT gotten a high quality game.
Under those circumstances, why would you ever do anything other than take the game?