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Where were you on Thanksgiving Day in 1973?
If you answered with being at Notre Dame Stadium when the Irish dismantled Air Force 48-15 en-route to a national championship, then you were a part of history.
No, not just because that Ara Parseghian-led team went on to win it all, but because it was the last time Notre Dame Stadium failed to sell out for a home football contest.
Until this weekend.
It went over four-and-a-half decades and lasted 273 games but it appears that streak of consecutive sellouts is history.
“Based on ticket sales through Wednesday, we do not anticipate sellouts for our games against Navy and Boston College,” Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick said in a statement. “That this comes during a time of sustained success for our football program reflects both challenges impacting the ticket market nationwide and the unique dynamics of this year’s schedule.”
Swarbrick mentioned in an interview with Eric Hansen of the South Bend Tribune that the Irish playing three true home games this November and the weather that comes with that are the most-likely factors to seeing the streak end.
In the piece you find out how several games over the years counted as sellouts as well, even when plenty of empty seats were clearly evident.
The streak ranked second, behind only Nebraska who has sold out every one of their last 373 home contests.
Over the last ten seasons the Irish have played just one home-game five times, often playing the on-again, off-again Shamrock Series during the month.
Notre Dame can move to 8-2 with a win over No. 21 Navy and potentially 9-2 if they can also get by traditional pain-in-the-rear, Boston College in two weeks.
If you haven’t been to a game in quite some time, here’s your chance to see a potential top-10 finishing Notre Dame team up close.