On Monday, Notre Dame Athletic Director Pete Bevacqua ’93 spoke to law students about his unique career journey and goals as athletic director. Students had the opportunity to ask questions about how the University will respond to the evolving world of college athletics.
Bevacqua, who took over for longtime athletic director Jack Swarbrick in March, said his first year leading Fighting Irish athletics has been smooth. His tenure begins at a critical juncture for college sports.
“I think we are in the midst of [big changes] now with NIL, the House settlement and with college athletics drifting more and more to a professional model, particularly in football and men’s and women’s basketball,” Bevacqua said.
Bevacqua referenced the upcoming settlement that allows universities to directly compensate student-athletes up to a cap amount, anticipated to be around $20 million. He noted that while most of that figure will go to football, all 26 of Notre Dame’s sports programs will see benefits.
“Ninety-five percent of the revenue that comes into the Notre Dame athletic department is due to football,” Bevacqua said. “Now, we also have one of the two or three best women‘s basketball programs in the country. So we want to continue investing in all of our sports.”
Bevacqua’s background includes a law degree from Georgetown and experience as a corporate lawyer at Davis Polk. He said that his previous roles prepared him for his current leadership position.
“I ran the US Open for about six years, and then I oversaw the business side of the USGA for 11 years and loved every second of it,” Bevacqua said.
Before returning to his alma mater, Bevacqua was the chairman of NBC Sports. NBC is the official broadcast partner of Notre Dame Athletics, and the television rights deal was just renegotiated last year.
“I took over at NBC Sports, and again, loved it,” Bevacqua said. “This is just as the world was pivoting from a broadcast-cable approach to broadcast-streaming and realizing the power of sports on television to bring an audience together.”
Notre Dame’s unique position in college sports, Bevacqua noted, sets it apart from both academic peers and athletic competitors.
“We could have unbelievable students and beat Harvard and lose 100-nothing to Alabama, or we could flip the switch and say, ‘Hey, we’re not going to care about academic standards, we’re not going to care about kids, we’re just going to become a football factory and beat Alabama,’” Bevacqua said.
Bevacqua’s vision is to avoid both extremes and make Notre Dame the best of both worlds.
“We’re not going to compromise,” he said.
He highlighted the commitment to provide resources for both athletic and academic success.
“We’re going to give you every resource imaginable to succeed athletically — the best coaches, best facilities, an unbelievable schedule, sports science, nutrition, data analytics,” Bevacqua said. “But we’re going to do the same thing academically, and we’re going to give you every resource to meet here with a Notre Dame degree.”
Bevacqua stressed that his role is to support each student holistically, adding a personal touch to his leadership.
“Whether your fourth career ends at 18, 21 or 35, it’s going to end,” Bevacqua said. “And then that Notre Dame degree is going to serve you for the rest of your life.”
“I have three kids at home, but when I come to work, I have 700,” he joked.
