Going all out for tailgating, for a good cause

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Mike O'Brien and Patricia Pierce are somewhat new to the Notre Dame tailgate scene, they've only been putting theirs on for a couple years, but boy do they go big.

The beverages are here, the ice is ready, and there are even bathrooms. It's time for a Legends Only tailgate.

But this compound on the corner of Bulla and Ivy in South Bend isn't where O'Brien and Pierce began their tailgate tradition; it actually started nearly 2000 miles West in Las Vegas, when Notre Dame took on BYU in Sin City four years ago.

"A neutral site game, Notre Dame fans travel better than any other fans in the country, and what better place to start than Las Vegas," said O'Brien.

"I had come and brought an athlete to his Vegas event, and I wasn't really in it yet but we were such good friends that with my event experience, I kind of just jumped in and just started running it with him, and after seeing the success we had in Vegas, I was like I want to do this for work one day," said Pierce.

During that October day out West, O'Brien and Pierce put two and two together and figured out they make a pretty good tailgate event team, especially after Pierce brought Rudy Ruettiger to the Vegas event, much to the delight of the attending Irish faithful.

From there, they set their sights on Notre Dame's August 2024 showdown against Texas A&M down in College Station, before finally throwing their first Legends Only tailgate in 2025 in South Bend.

"We had built a good following, and we like to cater to both fanbases, so we had built a good following in College Station, it was about 50/50, Notre Dame fans and Aggie fans, and it just made sense because of the home and home with the Aggies coming up here last season to run it back in South Bend," said O'Brien.

O'Brien hails from New Buffalo, while Pierce stays near Houston, and that distance doesn't stand in their way of going all out once a year for the tailgate.

But it's not just all about the meet and greets with former players, the food, or the drinks. Part of the motivation for the tailgate involves giving back locally and providing opportunities to fellow small businesses.

"A portion of the proceeds from some of the elements of our event go back into the community and then we get to feature small businesses. Whether we're in South Bend, or College Station, or Las Vegas, we use all local vendors, caterers, bartenders," said O'Brien.

"We love seeing all the other vendors from in and around the area, Indiana Whiskey Company was actually founded by Notre Dame grads, we're veteran owned, and we love collaborating with other brands in South Bend and the surrounding areas," said Brad Monk, brand ambassador for Indiana Whiskey Company.

In addition to the small business shoutouts, O'Brien tells ABC57 the space Legends Only takes up for the day is a big part of their giving back efforts.

"Corvilla is a South Bend based non-profit, they provide adult group homes for adults with disabilities, they actually own this space and typically, for home games, they'll rent out this space for parking. What we do for our event is buy the entire lot as a donation to the nonprofit, and then there's certain elements like silent auction, raffle, cash bar, all those profits get donated to the nonprofit as well," said O'Brien.

Despite this tailgate having not been around for even a full decade, people were lining up well before the party began.

"I discovered this on Instagram, and found out Michael Stonebreaker was going to be here, along with Chris Zorich and Tony Rice. I remember the game back in 1988, big fan, never had an opportunity to meet them and I cannot wait," said Kip Diemer, tailgate attendee.

"It's the location and the fans, so as long as you have a good fanbase that you're dealing with, everything can go wrong and the event can still be successful, because of the fan base and the customer base. We come back to Notre Dame every year because we love Notre Dame fans, and we love the fact that we're in South Bend, and just the environment that has welcomed us with open arms, we can't get anywhere else," said Pierce.