Ohio State Will Pay $1.95 Million to Connecticut, $1.9 Million to Ball State for Non-Conference Games at Ohio Stadium in 2025, 2026

By Dan Hope on March 20, 2020 at 3:29 pm
Ohio Stadium
Greg Bartram – USA TODAY Sports
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The payout for a non-Power 5 team to come to Ohio Stadium for a non-conference football game is increasing.

Ohio State will pay $1.95 million to Connecticut for its non-conference game against the Huskies at the Shoe on Oct. 28, 2025, and will pay $1.9 million to Ball State after it hosts the Cardinals at Ohio Stadium on Sept. 5, 2026, according to contracts for each game, which were obtained by Eleven Warriors on Friday.

Those payouts are an increase from its non-conference games against Group of 5 opponents scheduled for 2020-23, a span in which Ohio State is set to pay $1.8 million to six different opponents.

Ohio State's Scheduled Payouts to Non-Conference Opponents, 2020-26
Date Opponent Total Payout
Sept. 5, 2020 Bowling Green $1,200,000
Sept. 19, 2020 Buffalo $1,800,000
Sept. 18, 2021 Tulsa $1,100,000
Sept. 25, 2021 Akron $1,800,000
Sept. 10, 2022 Arkansas State $1,800,000
Sept. 17, 2022 Toledo $1,800,000
Sept. 9, 2023 San Jose State $1,800,000
Sept. 16, 2023 Western Kentucky $1,800,000
Oct. 28, 2025 Connecticut $1,950,000
Sept. 5, 2026 Ball State $1,900,000

Ohio State also has non-conference games scheduled against Oregon (2020-21), Notre Dame (2022-23), Washington (2024-25), Texas (2025-26) and Georgia (2030-31), but those are all home-and-home series for which Ohio State will not make payouts to the other school.

In addition to the cash payouts, UConn will also receive an allotment of 3,000 tickets while Ball State will receive 3,500. Each school would Ohio State $1 million if it backs out of the scheduled game, while Ohio State would be required to pay the difference between the scheduled payout and the amount the visiting team receives for a replacement game if it backs out of either game.

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