The Wisconsin Badgers will be hosting Western Kentucky in Camp Randall Stadium to open the 2018 college football season. That is old news that was reported a few weeks ago. Now we know just how much that opening game is going to cost Wisconsin.
According to a Wisconsin State-Journal report, Wisconsin will pay Western Kentucky of Conference USA $1.35 million to make the trip to Madison. Per the Wisconsin paper, the $1.35 million price tag is the most expensive to date for Wisconsin for a game of this type. Wisconsin will also pay $1.2 million each to Utah State and FAU in 2017 and another $1.2 million each to New Mexico in 2018 and North Texas in 2019. So it is not quite that much of a leap when discussing the price of paying for a guaranteed home game with no return trip.This actually appears to be the going rate for a power conference school scheduling a non-power conference program.
This actually appears to be the going rate for a power conference school scheduling a non-power conference program. The prices for guaranteed games will continue to rise with the market as well, but how a growing divide between power and non-power conferences could lead to some interesting negotiations in the future. Will some Group of Five schools have some more bargaining power as power conference programs look to build stronger schedules? Maybe, but likely not. Schools from power conferences may be willing to pay for better competition from the Group of Five (which Western Kentucky certainly qualifies right now) than bottom feeders, but when push comes to shove and you need to fill a spot on the schedule, the cheaper alternative may win out often enough.