Notre Dame football to appear on all-access Showtime series

“We’re honored and thrilled to be granted access to profile a college football program with a legacy as storied and as fascinating as the Notre Dame Fighting Irish”, said Stephen Espinoza, Executive Vice President and General Manager of SHOWTIME Sports in a press release.

The series will premier September 8 at 10 p.m. The weekly 30-minute episodes will run the duration of the season. “The eagerness of the gamers and head coach Brian Kelly will make for a compelling tv collection that may attraction past hardcore school soccer followers to all viewers who respect nice storytelling”. It likely comes after a successful partnership with Notre Dame’s basketball team on the project HoopsU, where Showtime cameras were embedded with Mike Brey’s team as they followed the Irish and Maryland’s basketball team both on and off the court during the final month of conference play. The first episode will air after Notre Dame’s season opener against the Longhorns of Texas.

Although it’s not finalized, sources tell FootballScoop that the sports reality series on the Fighting Irish would follow Showtime’s Inside The NFL on Tuesday nights. The 2015 schedule also includes a game at Fenway Park for the annual match-up with Boston College. It’s expected to be in a similar vein of documentary shows like HBO’s ‘Hard Knocks’.

It’s official Notre Dame and Showtime have agreed to a deal for a show this season.

The “Hard Knocks” model has been attempted in college football before, but never on a full-season level on a national network that is not directly affiliated with a conference. The Fighting Irish begin the season ranked No. 11 in the coaches’ poll.