Here’s how much money Clemson is paying Troy for Week 2 football game
It’s time for Clemson football’s first “guarantee game” of the season.
After a Week 1 home loss to LSU, the Tigers and coach Dabo Swinney are set to play Sun Belt member Troy on Saturday at Memorial Stadium (3:30 p.m., ACC Network).
No. 8 Clemson is favored by 33.5 points and should, in theory, have a far easier time dealing with the Trojans than it did LSU’s loaded SEC roster. As per usual, Troy’s athletic department will also earn a nice chunk of change for the game.
Clemson owes Troy a “guarantee” payment of $1.5 million for Saturday’s game, according to a game contract obtained by The State via public records request.
The Clemson athletic department must pay Troy its $1.5 million by Feb. 15, 2026, per terms of the contract. That payment is on par with the lump sums paid out to other Group of Five schools in recent years for trips to Memorial Stadium, which have generally resulted in lopsided Clemson wins.
Clemson paid Louisiana Tech $1.1 million for a 2022 game, Florida Atlantic $1.2 million for a 2023 game and App State $1.25 million for a 2024 game, The State previously reported. The Tigers won all three games by at least 28 points.
These games are commonly referred to as “buy games” or “guarantee games” since they involve a power conference school paying a Group of Five or FCS school a lump sum to play a road game, usually as a major underdog.
Troy is 1-0 this season after beating FCS school Nicholls 38-20 at home in Week 1. The Trojans are in their second season under former Notre Dame offensive coordinator Gerad Parker. In Parker’s first season, Troy finished 4-8 and 3-5 in the Sun Belt.
Clemson (0-1) has never lost a home game to a Group of 5 school in the Swinney era (dating back to 2009). The Tigers are 2-0 all-time against Troy with a 43-19 win in 2011 and a 30-24 win in 2016 (a surprise test for an eventual national title team).
Here are other details from the Clemson-Troy contract, which was signed in 2018:
Clemson-Troy football game contract details
- Troy gets 300 free tickets for the game. Troy also had the chance to request up to 2,000 additional tickets for the game by Feb. 1. Any tickets that weren’t sold had to be returned to Clemson by Aug. 5, and Troy had to pay Clemson back for those tickets at each ticket’s printed face value.
- Troy’s band, cheerleaders and mascot(s) all get into the game for free.
- Troy, if requested, can conduct a walkthrough at Clemson’s Memorial Stadium the day before the game (Friday). It must be held between 12:30 and 3 p.m.
- Clemson will provide Troy with a minimum of 60 team bench area passes, 16 all-access passes, eight coaches’ booth passes and six team/coaches video passes.
- Clemson will also provide Troy with parking for one equipment truck, four buses and six cars “for use by the football program and administration.”
This story was originally published September 2, 2025 at 8:00 AM.
