CLEMSON – It will be a seven-figure prize for Clemson as its football program hosts three non-league opponents at Memorial Stadium this season.
Non-ACC opponents are Appalachian State on September 7, The Citadel on November 23 and rival South Carolina on November 30.
Last season, Clemson paid a total of $1.6 million after hosting two non-ACC opponents. Charleston Southern received $400,000 and Florida Atlantic secured $1.2 million.
The Tigers will also face Georgia in the Aflac Peach Bowl opener at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta on August 31 (noon ET, ABC).
Here’s how much No. 14 Clemson will receive to play No. 1 Georgia and how much it will pay its home non-conference opponents in 2024, according to game contracts obtained by The Greenville News through public records requests.
31 August: Georgia (neutral)
This will be the highest ranked matchup in Week 1 and the game is sold out. The Peach Bowl, Clemson and Georgia entered into this game agreement in August 2018.
The organization will pay each school $5 million to participate through November 15, 2024.
Each school will receive 70 free bench passes and 32 suite tickets to the game. Both will also receive 200 free tickets to the College Football Hall of Fame on August 30.
September 7: Appalachian State
Clemson and App State entered into this agreement in January 2018. This will be the sixth game between these schools; the last was in 2015 when the Tigers won 41-10 at Memorial Stadium.
Clemson will pay App State $1.25 million through Feb. 15, 2025, to play against them this season. The Mountaineers will also be allocated 2,300 free tickets.
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23 November: Citadel
Clemson and The Citadel entered into this agreement in June 2017. This will be the 40th meeting between the two schools; the first was in 1909. The Tigers won their last game in 2020 by a score of 49-0.
Clemson will pay The Citadel $475,000 to participate this season through February 15, 2025, and the teams will compete again in 2028.
The Bulldogs will be allocated 300 free tickets. They had the opportunity to request up to 2,000 more by Feb. 1, and unsold tickets could be returned to Clemson by May 1.
The Citadel will receive at least 60 team bench passes, 16 all-access passes, eight coaches’ locker room passes and six team/coaches’ video passes.
November 30: South Carolina
Clemson and South Carolina entered into this agreement on October 5, 2023. This rivalry dates back to 1896, and the Tigers won last year’s meeting 16-7. They faced each other for 111 consecutive years from 1909 to 2019, but the series was interrupted in 2020 due to the pandemic.
Clemson pays South Carolina $0 because the two play each other annually and rotate venues between Memorial Stadium and Williams-Brice Stadium.
South Carolina will not receive any free tickets, but has been allocated up to 7,000 tickets for sale (including 1,500 for the lower deck of Memorial Stadium) if requested by February 1.
Derrian Carter covers Clemson athletics for The Greenville News and the USA TODAY Network. Email him at [email protected] and follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @DerrianCarter00
