Wake Forest buys 2025 football game from Ole Miss

The Ole Miss Rebels crushed the Wake Forest Demon Deacons 40-6 on Saturday at Allegacy Stadium in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

The game was the first in a home-and-home series the two schools had scheduled 10 years ago. However, earlier this week, Wake Forest officials informed Ole Miss that they would buy out the return game in Oxford, Miss., which was scheduled for Sept. 13, 2025.

Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin revealed the news shortly after the Rebels’ win on Saturday.

“Those guys called during the week and (Wake Forest athletic director) John Currie said, ‘We’re not playing next year,’ and walked out of the game,” Kiffin said. “So I thought that was a good message to our players, that somebody would pay to not play them. It says a lot about where our program is right now.”

According to the copy of the contract, the cancellation fee for each match is $750,000 if the cancellation notice is received by the non-breaching party more than 12 months but less than 24 months before the scheduled match date. This amount increases to $1 million if the cancellation notice is given 12 months or less before the scheduled match date.

Both teams will now have to find a fourth non-conference opponent for next season. Ole Miss is scheduled to host Georgia State on Aug. 30, The Citadel on Sept. 6 and Tulane on Sept. 20.

Wake Forest’s other scheduled non-conference opponents in 2025 are all home and include Kennesaw State on Aug. 30, Western Carolina on Sept. 6 and Delaware on Nov. 22.

Football match schedule