Colorado State will receive $2M from Florida for their game, the largest payout this seasonGETTY
College football programs this weekend "begin the annual ritual of playing one-time, non-conference games in exchange for huge payouts," and an analysis of more than 275 contracts for matchups involving FBS teams this season shows "well over" $175M will change hands, according to Berkowitz, Peterson & Caffey of USA TODAY. The "real money" is in "about a dozen contests at off-campus sites." Those games will "provide the participating schools a combined total" of more than $50M in "appearance fees that come with strings, including a need to sell tens of thousands of tickets schools agree to purchase from third-party organizers." Meanwhile, millions more will "come directly from the schools with the wealthiest athletics departments." In at least 45 instances this season, one of those schools will "pay at least" $1M to a "lower-scale opponent while aiming to fill vast stadiums." Additionally, more than 15 games this season "will give the visiting team" at least $1.4M. Iowa AD Gary Barta said, "The market just continues to go up. I'm hearing stories of other schools paying $2 million for games (in the future). You continue to wonder where the market is going to stop." Berkowitz, Peterson & Caffey note the greatest payout this season is the $2M Colorado State is getting from Florida for a game Sept. 15 that the schools "created as part of [a] package" under which former UF coach Jim McElwain fulfilled the $7.5M buyout he "owed for leaving" CSU to join UF after the '14 season (USA TODAY, 8/30).
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TOP GUARANTEED PAYOUTS FOR NON-CONFERENCE GAMES
IN WEEK 1 (EXCLUDES NEUTRAL SITE GAMES)
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DATE
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AWAY-HOME
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PAY FOR VISITING TEAM
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9/1
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Oregon State-Ohio State
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$1.7M
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8/31
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Utah State-Michigan State
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$1.4M
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8/31
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Western Kentucky-Wisconsin
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$1.35M
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9/1
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Old Dominion-Liberty
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$1.32M
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9/1
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UNLV-USC
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$1.25M
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SEEING GREEN: In Knoxville, Mike Wilson reports Tennessee has "received two contractual payments" for a total of $2.25M before its game against West Virginia at Bank of America Stadium on Saturday. That number is "set to grow" to $2.5M and "could reach" as high as $3.2M, based on the contract details between UT, WVU and Charlotte Sports Events agreed to in July '14. If 66,000 tickets are sold, each school will "receive an additional $400,000 to bring the total payment" to $2.9M. The next tier -- 70,000 tickets sold -- "bumps the total payment" to $3M. A sellout -- defined as 72,500 tickets sold -- "would net each university" $3.2M total. UT and WVU "each received an initial allotment of 12,000 tickets." UT "requested more and sold out of their 16,397 tickets," while WVU "reportedly sold slightly more than 15,000." WVU coach Dana Holgorsen said, "I'm tickled to death because this game is in Charlotte, neutral site, and for both fan bases, Charlotte is very important. It's going to be fun. It's going to be a jam-packed stadium with a lot of energy" (Knoxville NEWS SENTINEL, 8/30).
