Fighting Irish Media, founded in 2011 as Fighting Irish Digital Media, is a sports video production company on the campus of the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin founded the school in 1842. The main campu ...

that produces national and regional live broadcasts, social media videos, and live videoboard shows for

Notre Dame Fighting Irish The Notre Dame Fighting Irish are the athletic teams that represent the University of Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish participate in 23 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I intercollegiate sports and in the NCAA's Division ...

Athletics. Much of FIM's employees are current Notre Dame students who work cameras, replay, and sound, as well as are technical directors, announcers, production assistants, and directors for live events produced both for regional, such as

NBC Sports NBC Sports is an American programming division of the broadcast network NBC, owned and operated by NBC Sports Group division of NBCUniversal and subsidiary of Comcast. The division is responsible for sports broadcasts on the network, and its d ...

Chicago, and national broadcasts, such as

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

, and

ACC Network ACC Network (ACCN) is an American multinational subscription-television channel owned and operated by ESPN Inc. Dedicated to coverage of the Atlantic Coast Conference, it was announced in July 2016 and launched on August 22, 2019. The channel o ...

History

Founded in 2011 by small group headed by then Notre Dame Director of Digital Media, Dan Skendzel, FIM has greatly expanded the university's production ability and content quality. Fighting Irish Media runs the production days for all Fighting Irish Athletics teams, most of the non-live video seen on NBC during Notre Dame Football broadcasts. Until November 2018, much of FIM's videos were released under the WatchND moniker. Fighting Irish Media is the main producer for Notre Dame college athletics live broadcasts, social media videos, and videoboard productions. FIM works with

, and other national broadcasting companies in producing Notre Dame sporting events for national broadcast. Since Fighting Irish Digital Media's start in a small room in the corner of

Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame Stadium is an outdoor football stadium in Notre Dame, Indiana, the home field of the University of Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team. It was built in 1930 under the guidance of Knute Rockne, regarded as one of the greatest co ...

in 2011, the production company has since expanded into the northwest corner of the

Joyce Center The Joyce Center, formerly the Athletic & Convocation Center, is a 9,149-seat multi-purpose arena in Notre Dame, Indiana just north of South Bend. The arena opened its doors in 1968. It is home to the University of Notre Dame Fighting Irish baske ...

, and the new Martin Media Center, inside the newly built Corbett Hall on the east side of Notre Dame Stadium, which also houses sister production companies, Grotto Network and Notre Dame Studios. In 2017, Fighting Irish Media was instrumental in the success of the videoboard installed inside Notre Dame Stadium for the 2017 football season. Mike Bonner, former director of the

Yankee Stadium Yankee Stadium is a baseball stadium located in the Bronx, New York City. It is the home field of the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball, and New York City FC of Major League Soccer. Opened in April 2009, the stadium replaced the origi ...

and

Mile High Stadium Mile High Stadium (originally Bears Stadium until 1968) was an outdoor multi-purpose stadium located in Denver, Colorado from 1948 to 2001. The stadium was built in 1948 to accommodate the Denver Bears baseball team, which was a member of the ...

videoboards, was hired by Fighting Irish Media to launch Notre Dame's first football videoboard. Bonner who also has extensive experience as a videoboard director for the

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inau ...

, directed the videoboard for its first three-season before taking a job running the video board for the

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL), as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. T ...

in 2020. Since the installation of the football videoboard many major non-university events, including a friendly match between

Liverpool FC Liverpool Football Club is a professional football club based in Liverpool, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Founded in 1892, the club joined the Football League the following year and has p ...

and

Borussia Dortmund Ballspielverein Borussia 09 e. V. Dortmund, commonly known as Borussia Dortmund (), BVB (), or simply Dortmund (), is a German professional sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is best known for its men's professional footb ...

, a

Garth Brooks Troyal Garth Brooks (born February 7, 1962) is an American country music singer and songwriter. His integration of pop and rock elements into the country genre has earned him popularity, particularly in the United States with success on the co ...

(which was the first concert in Notre Dame Stadium history), and the

2019 NHL Winter Classic The 2019 NHL Winter Classic (officially the 2019 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic) was an NHL outdoor games, outdoor regular season National Hockey League (NHL) game, part of the NHL Winter Classic, Winter Classic series, that was played on Januar ...

between the

Chicago Blackhawks The Chicago Blackhawks (spelled Black Hawks until 1986, and known colloquially as the Hawks) are a professional ice hockey team based in Chicago. The Blackhawks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division i ...

and

Boston Bruins The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston. The Bruins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team has been in existence since 1924, making t ...

. FIM was part of the production teams for each of these events. FIM helped launch the

in August 2019. Fighting Irish Media also produced and directed the premiere of the Notre Dame Fan Feed on NBC Sports, for the final home game of the 2019 football season. The show included the radio play-by-play, a studio crew of

Ahmed Fareed Ahmed Fareed is an American studio host and sports reporter for American television network NBC Sports. Early life Fareed is a native of Sparta, Michigan, where he played quarterback for the Sparta High School (Michigan), Spartans. After graduati ...

, Jessica Smetana, Darius Walker, and injured current linebacker

Daelin Hayes Daelin Hayes (born May 16, 1998) is an American football outside linebacker for the Baltimore Ravens of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for Notre Dame Fighting Irish football, Notre Dame. Early life and high school ...

, live looks at Notre Dame Stadium's traditions rarely seen on television, including the Fighting Irish Marching Band, fans in the stands, and different looks around the stadium. Fighting Irish Media also produced a handful of podcasts including Podward Notre Dame, an Inside Look at Fighting Irish Media, and Stronger Scars, a Podcast created and hosted by current Notre Dame Women's Soccer player Bailey Cartwright.

Awards

In 2013, Fighting Irish Media won its first award, the inaugural Sports Video Group Technology Leadership Award. In 2014, FIM won three Bronze Telly Awards and the College Sports Media Awards' Most Outstanding Program Series Award. FIM won 5 Telly Awards, including its first Silver Telly, in 2015, as well as their first Chicago/Midwest Regional Emmy Award. In 2016, FIM won Outstanding Program Series in the Collegiate Athletics Category at the SVG College Sports Media Awards, as well as 9 more Telly Awards, including 4 Silver Tellys. FIM also won two Chicago/Midwest Regional Emmys in 2016. In 2017, FIM again won two Chicago/Midwest Regional Emmys and the award for Outstanding Live Non-Game Production at the SVG College Sports Media Awards. FIM again won six Regional Emmys in 2019. At the 2020 SVG College Sports Media Awards FIM won the award for Outstanding Special. As of September 2020, Fighting Irish Media has won 14 Chicago/Midwest Regional Emmy Awards, six SVG College Sports Media Awards, and 17 Telly Awards-five Silver and 12 Bronze.

References

External links

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FIM Twitter
{{Clear Television production companies of the United States Companies based in Indiana Entertainment companies established in 2008 University of Notre Dame