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University of Miami shells out more than $1 million to face Miami University in football

<p>The RedHawks and the Hurricanes face off at 7 p.m. on Friday. The game will be televised on ACC Network.</p>

The RedHawks and the Hurricanes face off at 7 p.m. on Friday. The game will be televised on ACC Network.

Miami University’s RedHawks football team is gearing up to fly to Miami, Florida, this Friday for a game against the University of Miami’s Hurricanes. While the game is garnering national attention and fueling a fight to determine who the real Miami is, it will also net the RedHawks $1.5 million.

Guarantee games are common in college football. Higher ranked teams will shell out hundreds of thousands — or in this case, millions — of dollars to play against lower ranked teams and boost their ratings. 

The Miami v. Miami matchup is far from the only guarantee game this season. Each year, dozens of programs plan out-of-conference games to boost their numbers before the official season starts, paying big money to make it happen. On the same day as the Miami v. Miami game, Central Michigan’s team will travel to East Lansing and collect $1.75 million to play against Michigan State University.

In the agreement the two Miamis signed, the Florida university agreed to pay out $1.5 million to the RedHawks program by Feb. 15, in addition to $40,000 to cover travel expenses. It should still be a profitable event for the Hurricanes, though, who have home field advantage and will make money from ticket sales. The RedHawks also get 2,000 complimentary tickets to distribute for the game.

Later this fall, Miami will pay $350,000 to compete against Delaware State University in Oxford.

Fans in Oxford can catch the game Friday, Sept. 1, at 7 p.m. on ACC Network.

scottsr2@miamioh.edu

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