Game contracts: how much does it cost to “buy a win”?

Non-conference games aren’t always that cheap

A while back – and I wish I could find the actual quote – Greg Schiano was responding to a question about non-conference games. The gist of it was, why is Rutgers playing the schools it’s playing? Why play Howard or Norfolk Sate or Ohio University? Why not a school people know better or one that is a greater challenge to prepare for the Big Ten grind?

The response from GS, as I recall it, focused something along the lines of, ‘Do you know how much those schools want to play us? It isn’t cheap’.

Or something like that.

So, how much is being spent by schools to fill out their non-conference schedules? And, to our interest, how much is Rutgers spending on its opponents? As we get ready for the first week of games, let’s look at some non-conference game contracts.

2026 Rutgers Non-Conference Schedule

The contracts for each game this year were obtained through an Open Public Records Request, and this is what we found:

• UMass: $1.55 million payout and 500 complimentary tickets
  • that payout tends to be a good deal more than Rutgers pays out for these games.
  • the comped tickets is not unusual in many contracts – we’ll see that more later
• Boston College: there is no exchange of revenue; 300 complimentary tickets; games in Chestnut Hill in 2026 and Piscataway in 2027
  • with no money involved, is this viewed as a “game between equals”, especially with it being a home-and-home? Equal at least in the sense that each team can, more or less, afford to make the trip.
  • It’s interesting that the contract only calls for 300 comps, while the UMass agreement adds another 200
• Howard: $450K in 2024, $475K in 2026, 400 comp tix
  • An increased payout for the second game; seems fair

So, bottom line, Rutgers is shelling out just over $2 million this year to pay for opponents to come to Piscataway.

Looking back a year

Just for the sake of argument – and because it gave me another reason to file a public records request – I looked at the game contracts for the 2025 season, including the games that came a li-i-i-ttle too close for comfort.

• Ohio: I bet, like me, you can still see the head banging of RU fans against any wall they could find as this game played out. The 34-31 win to open the season certainly was no easy win. MAC schools can command some cash, and Rutgers paid the Bobcats $1.1 million to cause us that much anguish. Rutgers provided the seeming standard 400 complimentary tickets along with 2,000 tickets to sell.
• Miami : Then came that other guaranteed win. I mean, the game wasn’t in doubt, ending up 45-17. But it was just 24-10 at the half and at the end of the day, RU only had 63 more yards of total offense. But I digress, as we all reach for the Tums thinking back to that day. Another MAC school, another $1.1 million and 400 complimentary tickets along with 2,000 tickets to sell.
• Norfolk State: This contract was signed in 2022 and it brings the Spartans back to Piscataway in 2028. To take the 60-10 beat down, NSU took home a mere $425,000; they’ll get $450,000 in ‘28. Oh, yeah: 400 complimentary tickets along with 2,000 tickets to sell.

So, last year’s all-home non-conference schedule cost Rutgers $2.625 million.

Future Rutgers Schedules

Sorry, I didn’t get all the contracts; bad timing on my part. Rutgers has non-conference games scheduled through 2033; not a full calendar, but at least partial. Akron joins BC (part of this year’s game contract) and LIU on next year’s slate. In 2028, Norfolk State is back with UConn (below) and Kent State (also 2030), another MAC squad. In 2029, Central Michigan is on the calendar. Temple is slotted for a four game series beginning on 9/7/30 and running through 2033.

• Akron: 9/4/27
• UConn: 2028 in East Hartford, 2029 in Piscataway, no exchange of money, 350 comp tickets
  • As with BC, a game between “equals” so no compensation?
  • 350 free tickets: there doesn’t seem to be any particular standard other than, perhaps, what the visiting team wants
• LIU: A 2027 first-time visit worth $425K….and 50 hotel rooms (hmmm ???)
  • no complimentary tickets….interesting
  • less money than what Howard got, even two years ago
  • Hotel rooms?
    • The contract permits Rutgers to select the hotel (Motel 6 perhaps?)
    • Even at the lower end, it’s maybe another $10,000 to pay out
• Norfolk State: 2028
• Kent State: 9/16/28, 9/14/30, 9/13/31
• Central Michigan: 9/15/29
• Temple: 2030, 2031, 2032, 2033

What are others paying?

I have to admit that I kinda like submitting requests for records. Whether it’s called OPRA (Open Public Records Act) as at Rutgers or FOIA (Freedom of Information Act), most schools are pretty good at providing records in a fairly timely manner. I requested game contracts from seven other Big Ten public universities; these are their responses in the order I got them back.

Minnesota 2026

The Gophers have three non-con games, so three contracts. One is a home-and-home and is sort of interesting.

• Eastern Illinois: $500,000, 300 complimentary tickets, 2500 tickets for sale to their fans. EIU is a member of the Ohio Valley Conference; not an upper level G6 school
• Akron: $1.2 million, 300 complimentary tickets, 2500 tickets for sale to their fans; Akron is a MAC school; not elite, but the MAC has recently been a source of opponents for the Scarlet – see Miami and Ohio in 2025. Worth more?
• Mississippi State: first off, it was fun typing this as I spelled it out in my head: M-I-DOUBLE S – I – DOUBLE S – I- DOUBLE P – I
  • this is a two game contract, 2026 in Minneapolis and 2027 in Starkville
  • Minny isn’t buying a win here. This is an SEC opponent, and yet….
  • the visiting team each year will be compensated $350,000; covering travel costs?
  • visitors will be provided 300 complimentary tickets and 2700 tickets for sale to their fans
    • Unsold tickets, in excess of 500, must be returned to the home team or the visitors will be responsible for the cost
  • Maybe most important: you get to bring your own officials! SEC stripes in Minneapolis, Big Ten in Starkville

Wisconsin 2026

The Badgers aren’t buying wins with their non- conference schedule, not with Notre Dame on the calendar. The original contract had the Irish and Badgers in a two game “neutral site” series, playing in 2020 and 2021. There was no game in 2020 due to Covid; this year’s game is Wisconsin’s home game at Lambeau Field. The first of the two games was played at Soldier Field in 2021. The contract was amended in April 2021, and again in May 2025, to reschedule the game being played this year.

• Notre Dame: First, let’s clarify who the Badgers are playing: the contract is between the “University of Notre Dame du Lac (“Notre Dame”) and the Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System on behalf of the University of Wisconsin-Madison Division of Intercollegiate Athletics”. It is the school’s official name so…. Okay, now, let’s move on.
  • This is one of three games in 2026 that the Irish are playing against Big Ten opponents (Michigan State and Purdue)
  • Everything here appears to be a share-and-share-alike proposition: no exchange of money; the “home team” is responsible for all costs of conducting the game at its respective site. But, “revenues and amenities associated with the Games (which for the purposes of illustration shall include (without limitation) ticket sales revenue, revenue from merchandise sales at the stadium and on-site for each Game, and game-specific sponsorships, but shall exclude television, radio, and broadcasting revenues) will also be shared jointly and equally.”
  • As for ticket sales, “each party will have an equal share of the tickets available for sale to each Game and such tickets shall be materially the same in regards to type, quality, and price for each party.”
  • One of my favorite lines in the contract deals with broadcast rights: “Notre Dame acknowledges and agrees that (a) all rights to telecast or distribute (live or delayed, whole or condensed (including highlights), throughout the universe,….” Where, exactly, do they think this game will be watched? But, also, for the record, that line – “throughout the universe” – is used in other schools’ contracts.
• Western Illinois: The higher your level of play, the more you get. Being in the Ohio Valley Conference, just like Eastern Illinois at Minnesota, the payout of $575,000 is considerably less than a MAC school (see below). There are 300 comp tickets with an option to purchase 1,500 tickets for resale
• Eastern Michigan: $1,400,000 – yup, a MAC school. And even more – 400 complimentary tickets, with the option to purchase 1,500 tickets for resale.

Iowa 2026

There’s always one game that never leaves the Hawkeyes’ schedule: the annual in-state rivalry for the Cy-Hawk Trophy, a game that dates back to 1894. Even years at Iowa, odd years at ISU. Right now, Iowa leads the series 47-25. The actual trophy, though, only goes back to 1977.

• Northern Illinois: The original contract, signed in 2018, was for a game in 2025 for $1.5 million. There was a 2020 amendment moving the game to 2026 and paying NIU $1.6 million. There will be 3,000 tickets available, but 500 of them will be comped. The payment – this to a Mountain West school – is one of the largest I’ve come across.
• Iowa State: The most recent agreement sets dates and locations through next season. And confirms that it will be the intent to play it the second week of the season. No comp tickets, but 3,000 tickets will be given the visitors, 500 of which are for the band.
• Northern Iowa: This is a Missouri Valley Conference school; they tend to do okay with payouts, but not as much as MAC schools. $700,000, 3,000 tickets with 500 of them for the band.

Maryland 2026

Maryland played UConn two years ago in College Park to open the season, walking away with a 50-7 victory. They travel to East Hartford for the close of the home-and-home. The last regular season game against Tech was a victory in 2013, the last time the two were ACC members; they also played in the 2021 Pinstripe Bowl. They are scheduled for a total of four games through 2029, beginning in 2026 and alternating sites starting with this year’s game at Maryland.

• Hampton: As a member of the Coastal Athletic Association, the big bucks aren’t coming your way; $475,000 for the game, 300 comp tickets, up to 4,000 tickets for sale, complimentary suite for the AD.
• UConn: There is no exchange of money, as with RU-UConn next year. The visitor’s bring their officiating crew; recently UConn has used ACC officials. Maryland seems to offer a standard 300 comps and up to 4,000 tickets for sale. And also on the standard UMd schedule, a complimentary suite for the AD.
• Virginia Tech: An interesting twist here is that the hosts pay the visitors $500,000 – same rate all four years (2026-29); seems like an unnecessary use of a paper check. It states the visitor’s officials will be used, the 300 comps, but just 3,000 for sale – VT travels pretty well so no reason to make it easy on them. And the AD gets his suite.

Michigan State 2026

• Toledo: $1.3 million; I was provided just an addendum from 2021; the original contract was agreed to in 2017; Toledo is a MAC school so over a million
• Eastern Michigan: another MAC school, another game with a million+ payout ($1.5 million), 500 comps, 3,000 tickets to purchase
• Notre Dame: 2026 at Notre Dame, 2027 in East Lansing; visitors provide officials, no guarantees to either party; purchase up to 5,000 tickets with specific penalties for returned tickets by specific time lines

In summary….

It does seem that with just a few odd exceptions, games between FBS/P4 schools do not call for any payouts to the visiting team. The higher end G5/6 schools (e,g, Mid-America Conference) are getting over a million dollars, some heading towards two million; if you aren’t at that level (CAA, Sun Belt, MEAC), the current standard seems to be in the $400-500K range.

I requested contracts from Purdue and Indiana, but neither responded other than to say my request was received. I was interested in Purdue since they are playing two P4 schools: Wake Forest and Notre Dame, all three in West Lafayette. Indiana isn’t shooting for the stars in 2026, playing North Texas, Howard, and Western Kentucky, also all at home. Curt Cignetti recently canceled a series with the Irish with some fun comments.