2024 nonconference foes owed combined $4 million

Ohio State is spending a combined $4.05 million in payouts on its football nonconference schedule for this year, according to records reviewed by The Dispatch.

The first of the Buckeyes’ three nonconference matchups is on Saturday against Akron, followed by games against Western Michigan on Sept. 7 and Marshall on Sept. 21. All of those games are at Ohio Stadium.

Most of the money is going to the Broncos ($1.85 million) and Thundering Herd ($1.6 million), each getting seven figures for their trips to Columbus next month.

Ohio State had been due to pay $1.8 million to Western Michigan under the terms of the scheduling agreement the schools first signed in 2021, but it was amended last year, resulting in a $500,000 increase.

The total in guarantees marks the most the Buckeyes have shelled out for a slate of nonconference games since 2021.

It was three years ago when they paid a combined $6.4 million to three nonconference opponents, including $3.5 million to Oregon, which was previously a member of the Pac-12 before it joined the Big Ten this summer.

The hefty payment to the Ducks was a negotiated sum after the coronavirus pandemic resulted in the cancellation of a meeting the previous year. The Buckeyes had been scheduled to visit Autzen Stadium for the start of a home-and-home series.

Ohio State paid $2.6 million to its nonconference opponents last year and $3.6 million in 2022.

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Ohio State will dole out $600,000 to Akron for Saturday’s season opener. The Zips replaced Southern Mississippi as the Buckeyes’ opening nonconference opponent late last year. The payout to Akron is about a third of what Ohio State would have owed the Golden Eagles had the game been played as previously scheduled in 2020.

The swap resulted in slight cost savings for OSU. Instead of $1.9 million to paying Southern Miss, it will be on the hook for $1.55 million. That includes the payout to Akron and $950,000 in damages to the Golden Eagles from the cancellation, according to an amendment finalized last November.

An Ohio State spokesperson said last week that the change in opponents resulted from the school’s desire to play an in-state opponent this season. With the exception of the pandemic-shortened season in 2020 that scrapped nonconference games, the Buckeyes have hosted another school from Ohio each year since 2019.

USA TODAY sports project reporter Steve Berkowitz contributed to this report.

Joey Kaufman covers Ohio State football for The Columbus Dispatch. Follow him on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, @joeyrkaufman or email him at [email protected].

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