Notre Dame Fighting Irish Football

Even people who know nothing about American college football have likely heard of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, such is the team’s fame among the pantheon of great sports teams in the country. Playing almost their whole history as an Independent (apart from one experimental season in the ACC in 2020 that was soon abandoned the following year), the Fighting Irish have a glittering record replete with 22 national titles (11 claimed, 11 unclaimed) along with 21 Bowl victories (for an overall Bowl game record of 21-21) and 22 undefeated seasons. Seven Heisman trophies have been won by Notre Dame players, with many former Fighting Irish moving on to become some of the biggest ever stars in the NFL. More often than not, NFL teams that win Super Bowls have at least one former Irish player on their roster, including perhaps the most famous example of Joe Montana, who never won a Heisman but did lead Notre Dame to a national championship on his way to four Super Bowl triumphs with the San Francisco 49ers. Football at Notre Dame traces its way back to the 1800s, but the program really took off under legendary coach Knute Rockne (what a name for a football coach!) in the 1920s. Rockne was the coach who made the dying words of young football star George Gipp eternal when he told the team to “win one for the Gipper.” This sense of tradition pervades not only the players but the fans at Notre Dame, who generally show up not in the blue and gold of the team but the bright green of the Irish (a perfect match for the team mascot, the Fighting Leprechaun). They stand to sing along to “Here Come the Irish” as the team enters the field and, between the third and fourth quarters as the Notre Dame Marching Band booms out Tschaikovsky’s raucous 1812 Overture, they all wave their arms together, forming the coach’s initials with their fingers (F for Marcus Freeman currently). Following every home game, win or lose (usually win), the players head over to the student section of the stadium and raise their helmets in the air to salute their loyal supporters, while everyone links arms and sings “Notre Dame, Our Mother.” 

Notre Dame Fighting Irish Rivalries

As one of the most successful and best known college football teams in the nation over the past century, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish have made their fair share of enemies over the years. Because the school competes as an Independent, games with their rivals are separately scheduled outside of conference requirements, meaning that they have been able to keep alive many of their historical rivalries (unlike some teams who have lost rivalries after changing conferences, for example). Notre Dame’s fiercest rivals are without any doubt the USC Trojans, against whom they vie for the Jeweled Shillelagh, a traditional Irish club. Despite being located on opposite sides of the country, the rivalry between the two schools is considered one of the best in college sports between two of its finest teams. Notre Dame currently leads the all-time series 51–38–5. The Irish also had one of the longest uninterrupted rivalry series of all time against Navy until it was disrupted in 2020 by the pandemic, having played 93 straight years in a row (not all that competitively, however, with Notre Dame winning 82 of their total meetings and having one 43-game win streak). Notre Dame also has well-established rivalries with the Michigan Wolverines, Michigan State Spartans, and Miami Hurricanes (known for the Catholics vs. Convicts game in 1988, which Notre Dame won 31-30 after Miami missed a last-second two-point conversion), as well as the Purdue Boilermakers, Pittsburgh Panthers, Stanford Cardinal, and Northwestern Wildcats.

Finding Notre Dame Fighting Irish Football Tickets

With their fame, sense of tradition, and century of success on the football field, it is perhaps no surprise that the Notre Dame Fighting Irish are a very big draw. Despite being located in the small college town of Notre Dame, the team’s home games are just a 2-2.5 hour drive from Chicago or Indianapolis, and South Bend Airport means that flying in is also an option. As a result, the Irish have sold out almost all of their home games since 1964. This obviously makes getting your hands on Fighting Irish tickets a tricky proposition, even more so for Bowl games, decisive matchups, or games against rival schools (see above). Trust TicketX as your best source of affordable Notre Dame Fighting Irish tickets. Check our listings to see which tickets are available and use our helpful stadium seating chart to compare seating options in terms of price and location.