Here’s how much Clemson is paying The Citadel for this week’s football game
This weekend, The Citadel’s football team will travel to Clemson for a game expected to be so lopsided that most sportsbooks aren’t even offering a point spread for it.
It’ll come with a nice payout, though.
The Clemson athletic department will pay The Citadel $475,000 for its trip to Memorial Stadium this Saturday, per a game contract obtained by The State via public records request.
According to the contract struck in 2017, the Tigers must pay The Citadel — a military college based in Charleston whose football team competes at the FCS level — that $475,000 by Feb. 15, 2025, under the standard “buy game” structure used by power conference football programs.
The Tigers enter the game 8-2 and 7-1 in the ACC and are currently No. 20 in the College Football Playoff Top 25. Under coach Dabo Swinney, Clemson has generally played one home game a year against an in-state FCS opponent.
The Citadel is up this time around. The Bulldogs are in their second season under coach Maurice Drayton, a former player and NFL assistant. The Citadel was 0-11 and 0-8 in the Southern Conference in 2023 but has improved to 5-6 and 3-5 in 2024.
This Saturday’s game is set for a 3:30 p.m. kickoff on The CW and will serve as Clemson’s senior day. The Tigers are closing out the 2024 regular season with consecutive home games against The Citadel and then rival South Carolina on Nov. 30 in the Palmetto Bowl.
The Citadel’s $475,000 is in line with what Clemson’s paid to other in-state FCS programs for making the trip to Death Valley. Greenville-based Furman got $415,000 for a 2022 visit, and Charleston Southern was paid $400,000 for a game last year, The State previously reported.
Clemson agreed to pay App State $1.25 million for its visit to Memorial Stadium earlier this year, a highly anticipated regional meeting that ended up as a 66-20 Clemson win. (Group of Five programs always get higher payouts than FCS programs for such games.)
Between App State and The Citadel, Clemson will pay out $1.725 million in total to its 2024 home non-conference football opponents by next February.
Once again, that’s in line with the cost of two such games in 2022 ($1.515 million to Furman and La Tech) and 2023 ($1.6 million to Charleston Southern and FAU).
Clemson is a perfect 38-0 against FCS teams since the NCAA formed that second-tier division (previously known as I-AA) below the FBS prior to the 1978 football season.
Clemson has also won 37 of those 38 games by double digits and has won each of its last 12 games against FCS opponents by at least 23 points. Last year, the Tigers beat Charleston Southern 66-17 (+49), although the game was tied 14-14 after a quarter.
The Tigers lead the all-time series with The Citadel 33-5-1 and have won 18 straight games over the Bulldogs, including a 49-0 win in 2020 in their last meeting.
Here are more details from Clemson’s contract with The Citadel:
Clemson-Citadel football contract details
The schools signed a contract on June 15, 2017, agreeing to terms for two football games (both in Clemson) during the 2020 and 2024 seasons.
Had either school broken the contract and canceled the game without mutual consent within 24 months (two years) of the previously agreed-upon date, it would have owed the other school $450,000 in damages.
The Citadel gets 300 free tickets and had the option of being allocated up to 2,000 additional tickets to sell to its fans. The Citadel had to request those additional tickets by Feb. 1 of this year and return any unsold tickets to Clemson by May 1.
The Citadel’s band, cheerleaders and mascot(s) will be admitted to the game free of charge “when in uniform.” Band seating will be in a “contiguous block” of seating and will be drawn out of the school’s 300 free tickets.
If requested no later than the Sunday prior to the game, The Citadel is permitted to hold a team walk-through at Memorial Stadium at some point this Friday afternoon.
The visiting Bulldogs get 60 team bench area passes, 16 all-access passes, eight coaches booth passes and six team/coaches video passes.
The Citadel also gets parking for one equipment truck, four buses and six cars. Those are to be used by the football program and administration.
