Here’s how much money Clemson is getting to play Georgia in the Aflac Kickoff Game
The Clemson athletic department is getting a nice payday for its football team’s participation in the Aflac Kickoff Game this Saturday in Atlanta.
Peach Bowl Inc., the organization that runs the game, is set to pay the Tigers at least $5 million for their appearance in the Aug. 31 game against Georgia in Mercedes-Benz Stadium, according to a game agreement obtained by The State via public records request.
According to a contract for the game, signed in August 2018 by all three parties, the Peach Bowl agreed to provide Clemson and Georgia with a minimum payment of $5 million apiece by Nov. 15, 2024, after the regional rivals play their much-hyped, neutral-site season opener.
There’s also a caveat in the contract that Clemson and UGA could receive even more money, too, if 80% of each school’s final ticket revenue number surpasses the “guaranteed payment” of $5 million. In that instance, the Peach Bowl has committed to paying the greater amount.
The Tiger and the Bulldogs were provided 25,000 tickets apiece, and both schools sold out those allotments, Peach Bowl CEO Gary Stokan previously told The State.
According to the game agreement, the Peach Bowl will calculate an initial settlement for the game by Oct. 31, 2024, and send it to Clemson and Georgia for review before offering a final payment via check or wire transfer to each school’s athletic department by Nov. 15, a little under three months after the game is played.
For a Clemson athletic department that spent over $174 million in fiscal year 2022-23 and a university that’s engaged in a legal battle against the ACC, $5 million is not a game-changer. But it’s certainly a sizable chunk of change to factor into a budget.
Here are more contract details for the 2024 Aflac Kickoff Game between the No. 1 Bulldogs and No. 14 Tigers, which organizers say could set an attendance record at the venue. Georgia is a consensus 13.5-point betting favorite, per VegasInsider.com.
Clemson Georgia game contract details
The Peach Bowl provided Clemson and Georgia with 100 free rooms (valued at $20,000) at a hotel “mutually acceptable to each school” as their official team hotel for the game. Rooms were booked for Friday, the night before the game. Both schools were free to purchase additional rooms at their own expense.
Clemson and Georgia each received 70 free bench passes and 32 free suite tickets for usage at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Saturday, as well as 200 free tickets apiece for entry into the College Football Hall of Fame (adjacent to the stadium) on Friday.
Each school got 30 free parking passes for “internal use.”
The parties contractually agreed for Georgia to be the designated home team and wear red jerseys and Clemson to be the road team and wear white jerseys
The Peach Bowl agreed to provide each school with complimentary white towels “in any quantity that the school specifies.”
The parties agreed to use an officiating crew from a conference other than the ACC, where Clemson plays, or the SEC, where Georgia plays.
Each school gets access to Mercedes-Benz Stadium for a one-hour walk-through at a “mutually agreed upon time” the day before the game.
In an “Official Team Functions” exhibit attached to the contract, the Peach Bowl wrote that it would hold a “TV Broadcast Network VIP dinner” for senior officials from both schools and conferences on Friday night in Atlanta. Each school’s athletic director (for Clemson, that’s Graham Neff) was requested to attend.
Clemson vs. Georgia game, TV info
Who: No. 14 Clemson (0-0) vs. No. 1 Georgia (0-0)
When: noon Saturday
Where: Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta
TV: ABC
Line: Georgia by 13.5 points
