How Rupert Murdoch Changed Sports Media Forever
In a dramatic executive shift destined to shake up both sports media and college sports, NBC Sports chairman Pete Bevacqua will succeed Jack Swarbrick next year as Notre Dame’s director of athletics.
Bevacqua will start July 1 as a special assistant before assuming leadership in early 2024.
Since taking the post in 2008, Swarbrick has been a major power broker across college sports, particularly in an era of historic change regarding conference reconstruction and the advent of NIL rights for student-athletes. Under Swarbrick, Notre Dame staunchly remained an independent in football.
“At this time of great chaos and disruption in college athletics, it will be invaluable to have Pete join Jack and me in charting a future for Notre Dame athletics,” said Rev. John Jenkins, Notre Dame’s president.
Like Swarbrick, Bevacqua is a Notre Dame alumnus. He will depart NBC Sports after five years, while that network looks to reshape itself in a media landscape also experiencing unprecedented transformation.
Mark Lazarus, chairman of NBCUniversal Television and Streaming, will manage Bevacqua’s direct reports in the near term, but a broader transition remains to be finalized — and will be pivotal with the Paris 2024 Games just 13 months away. Bevacqua oversaw NBC Sports’ rights including the NFL, Olympics, MLB, Big Ten Conference, Notre Dame football, and USGA.
The Notre Dame move furthers a trend of college sports entities turning to leaders with high-profile media experience, such as the Big Ten with Tony Petitti, Pac-12 Conference with George Kliavkoff, Big 12 Conference with Brett Yormark, and Syracuse University with John Wildhack.
