Here’s how much NC State football will pay, receive for 2025 nonconference games
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- N.C. State will pay $750,000 in guarantees for two home nonconference games.
- East Carolina and Campbell will receive $300K and $450K respectively in 2025.
- Rescheduling fees to App State and Louisiana Tech added $1.3 million in payouts.
The new football season fewer than two months away, and nonconference opponents are getting big payouts.
N.C. State will pay $750,000 in guaranteed payments this season, according to contracts obtained through public records requests.
The Wolfpack has three nonconference home games but only two of them call for the school to pay the opposing team guarantees. The Pack’s fourth nonconference game is at Notre Dame.
Here’s how much N.C. State is projected to dish out for its upcoming seasons.
NC State football nonconference payments
N.C. State is set to pay East Carolina, a member of the American Athletic Conference, $300,000 to play at Carter-Finley Stadium on Aug. 28 for the season opener. They are facing each other in back-to-back meetings after the two teams faced off in the 2024 Military Bowl. The Pirates defeated the Wolfpack, 26-21, to end the season.
This is the second game of a three-game series, originally signed on Oct. 1, 2018 under former athletic director Debbie Yow.
The Wolfpack also paid ECU $300,000 for the first matchup at home in December 2018, which N.C. State won, 58-3.
ECU is scheduled to host the final game of the series on Sept. 2, 2028, in Greenville. Pending any changes, the Pirates will pay $300,000 to N.C. State.
The contract stipulates that each game could not begin before noon or after 8:15 p.m. local time and set by the host institution.
N.C. State entered into an agreement in January 2019 to play a two-game series with Campbell, a member of the Big South Conference. The Wolfpack plays the first game on Oct. 4 at Carter-Finley Stadium and will pay the Camels $450,000 for their participation.
The Pack hosts the Camels again in 2028 and is set to pay $475,000 to the mid-major, in-state opponent.
The agreements include cancellation clauses, stipulating the breaching party owes the other institution financial restitution if a game is canceled. The required payout varies based on when the cancellation occurs. If it takes place 36 months or more from the date of the scheduled date of the game, the penalty is smaller than if the cancellation occurs within 18 to 36 months or fewer than 18 months.
These cancellation clauses add to N.C. State’s monetary responsibilities to opponents after instances of rescheduling.
A merry-go-round of scheduling changes
Appalachian State was set to host N.C. State on Sept. 6, but changes to ACC scheduling requirements led to the game’s postponement until Sept. 30, 2028.
Virginia replaced the Mountaineers on the schedule, but it will not be considered a conference game.
N.C. State is still set to host App State on Sept. 26, 2026, which was part of the original agreement.
There was no guaranteed payment for either team, but the Wolfpack agreed to pay the Mountaineers $300,000 for the rescheduling.
N.C. State is in a similar situation with Louisiana Tech, with which it entered an agreement in 2017. It played in Raleigh in 2021 and again in 2024, with both games happening as expected. The Wolfpack was set for a road game in Ruston, Louisiana, on Sept. 6. That changed when the program agreed to play App State.
That was first moved to 2034 before being moved to 2027. N.C. State paid $1 million for the change.
Notre Dame is N.C. State’s fourth nonconference opponent, a contest set for Oct. 11 in South Bend. Despite the Irish playing independently in football, the program has an agreement with the ACC to schedule five league opponents each year and is not required to pay road teams.
N.C. State plays three games outside of North Carolina at Notre Dame, Pitt and Miami. The remaining away games are at Duke and Wake Forest. Seven games are at home, limiting the cost of travel.
