Records reveal new details on 12-game football series between Clemson, Notre Dame

Starting in 2027, get ready for a whole lot of Clemson-Notre Dame football.

The schools announced last May they’d agreed to a long-term football scheduling series that will run from 2027-38 and remain intact regardless of conference affiliation. Clemson and Notre Dame will alternate home games for 12 years, starting at the Tigers’ Memorial Stadium.

Although Clemson and Notre Dame verbally agreed to the deal last spring and both athletic departments announced it via news release on May 6, 2025, the actual contract wasn’t signed by both schools’ athletic directors until mid-December.

Here’s a closer look at that contract, which was obtained by The State via public records request and includes some interesting details.

Game dates for Clemson-Notre Dame series

Every game in the agreement is scheduled for a Saturday roughly nine to 10 weeks into the regular season, which follows a recent pattern. Clemson and Notre Dame’s two most recent meetings came in Week 10 of the 2022 and 2023 seasons.

• Game 1: Oct. 30, 2027 at Clemson
• Game 2: Oct. 7, 2028 at Notre Dame
• Game 3: Nov. 3, 2029 at Clemson
• Game 4: Oct. 19, 2030 at Notre Dame
• Game 5: Oct. 11, 2031 at Clemson
• Game 6: Oct. 16, 2032 at Notre Dame
• Game 7: Oct. 15, 2033 at Clemson
• Game 8: Oct. 14, 2034 at Notre Dame
• Game 9: Oct. 27, 2035 at Clemson
• Game 10: Oct. 18, 2036 at Notre Dame
• Game 11: Oct. 31, 2037 at Clemson
• Game 12: Oct. 16, 2038 at Notre Dame

The contract says that “in the event either party’s respective relationship with the ACC terminates prior to the 2038 game, the parties agree that this agreement shall survive such termination and the remaining Games shall be scheduled by the parties in conjunction with their affiliated conferences, if applicable.”

Clemson is a founding member of the ACC (but recently sued its own conference). Notre Dame is a member of the conference in every sport except for football but plays six ACC teams annually as part of a separate agreement.

Individual games can be canceled without affecting series

The Clemson-Notre Dame contract has language laying out what happens if one party cancels a game in the series without mutual consent, which is standard.

The canceling party owes the other party nothing if notice of cancellation is received at least four years before the game in question; $1 million if notice of cancellation is received two to four years before the game in question; and $3 million if it’s received within two years of the game, per the contract.

Those “damages” must be paid in full by Feb. 15 of the following year.

But Clemson and Notre Dame also included some flexibility within their long-term deal, with both schools acknowledging that “a cancellation of one game shall not be considered a breach or cancellation of all games under this agreement.”

That clause could be helpful as college football schedules continue to evolve.

Clemson, for example, was put in a bit of a predicament last fall when the ACC got in line with other power conferences and moved to a nine-game conference schedule. The Tigers will only play eight ACC games in 2026 due to non-conference commitments including an opener at LSU, and On3 Sports reported Clemson will do the same thing in 2027 and 2028 (the first two years of their Notre Dame series).

But what about 2029, when Clemson is currently scheduled to play 13 games: nine ACC games and four non-conference games against Georgia, FCS Furman, Notre Dame and rival South Carolina? As a football independent, Notre Dame also routinely evaluates and evolves its own scheduling strategy.

So the possibility of canceling one game within the long-term series without voiding the entire series – and canceling games at least four years in the future without financial penalty – is a formality, but a helpful one.

Possibility of Clemson-Notre Dame neutral-site game?

Right now, every game in the series is scheduled to be played at Memorial Stadium in Clemson or Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Indiana. But, according to the contract, the schools can play any of their games from 2027-38 at a neutral site if they mutually agree to the change.

A potential neutral-site series could involve the schools playing games at larger regional stadiums in their respective areas. Clemson has a history of such agreements. The Tigers opened the season against Georgia at Charlotte’s Bank of America Stadium in 2021 and Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium in 2024.

An option for future Clemson-Notre Dame games

Following their 2032 football game in Notre Dame but before their 2033 football game in Clemson, the schools “agree to confer in good faith about adding any additional games beyond the 2038 game,” according to the contract.

This is another common practice in contracts sometimes known as a “look-in,” which allows parties to renegotiate/extend their deal while it’s still active.

Clemson athletic director Graham Neff formally signed off on the 10-page scheduling agreement on Dec. 11, 2025, records show. Notre Dame athletic director Pete Bevacqua signed off a week later on Dec. 19.

This story was originally published March 17, 2026 at 7:30 AM.

Chapel Fowler

The State

Chapel Fowler, the NSMA’s 2024 South Carolina Sportswriter of the Year, has covered Clemson football and other topics for The State since summer 2022. His work’s also been honored by the Associated Press Sports Editors, the South Carolina Press Association and the North Carolina Press Association. He’s a Denver, N.C., native, a UNC-Chapel Hill alum and a pickup basketball enthusiast. Support my work with a digital subscription