The University of Akron football team's road this season began in a typical, rocky fashion.
But for the athletics department. It's also lucrative. For the Zips , that means $3.1 million in athletic department coffers.
Despite the re-alignment of the NCAA's football conferences, the teams in those newly formed super conferences, such as the Big Ten, which suddenly finds itself with 18 members, haven't yet passed on playing schools below their skill level.
That's good for schools such as UA and the rest of the Mid-American Conference. The Zips will reap the benefits of taking on those top tier universities on its non-conference schedule.
For its game against the Ohio State Buckeyes, the Zips received a $600,000 payday, a sum lower than the normal seven-figure payout.
That game came just three years after the teams last played one another. Normally, the Buckeyes take longer to rotate through Ohio Div. I schools. This year's game, a 52-6 loss for UA, was the result of a multiteam swap.
UA originally had games scheduled with the University of Kentucky in 2024 and 2026 but received a $1.2 million payment to not play them. UA then swapped with another team to play the Buckeyes this year. Ultimately, the payout was worth $1.8 million, the equivalent for the payment for the 2021 game.
As for the Zips' other two non-conference road games. They land squarely within the seven-figure realm. Saturday's noon game against Rutgers at SHI Stadium in Piscataway, N.J. will pay the Zips $1 million. The Sept. 21 game against the Gamecocks will net the program $1.5 million for their appearance at Williams-Brice Stadium.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Akron Zips football non-confernce paydays total more than $3 million
