How Much are Texas A&M’s 2025 Non-Conference Opponents Being Paid?

Each year in college football, it may feel like it is unfair for these massive programs like Texas A&M, Alabama and LSU to be playing against tiny programs like McNeese, Southern and Mercer. While it may be unfair on the field, the smaller programs do not feel it is unfair when the money hits their pocketbook.

Each year, larger programs pay smaller programs to play them, typically in the hopes of buying a win. The smaller teams head into the game with the hopes of getting paid to beat one of the better programs in the nation.

Texas A&M’s bill for their non-conference matchups is close to $4 million, Tony Catalina of the Austin-American Statesman revealed on Thursday.

How Much Money is Each Program Being Paid?

The Aggies kick off their 2025 season with a night bout against UTSA. For the Roadrunners’ short trip east, Texas A&M will owe $1.5 million and some complimentary tickets. The Aggies and Roadrunners have met just two times prior, with the Fightin’ Farmers coming out on top both times.

Week 2, Texas A&M hosts the Utah State Aggies. Utah State will bring in a pretty penny, earning $1.65 million. The Aggies have faced off against the Aggies only once before in 2009, with Texas A&M taking the victory 38-30.

Texas A&M head basketball coach Bucky McMillan’s former employer, the Samford Bulldogs, make the trip to Aggieland later in the season. Samford is being paid the least out of the Aggies’ non-conference opponents, banking only $550,000 of the $3.705 million. The biggest difference is the payment is due in full 30 days after the contest.

In these situations, the larger programs dish out the cash in hopes of enticing the smaller programs to agree to being beaten by the larger program, but it does not always go to plan. The Aggies learned this the hard way in 2022, when Appalachian State was paid $1.5 million to come to Kyle Field and embarrass the Maroon and White.

All of the deals were made multiple years in advance, during the early stages of the NIL era. With the new standard of revenue sharing, it will be interesting to see if schools will still have the budgets to offer each non-conference opponent north of $1 million.

Once the season starts, the Aggies will have to put their money where their mouth is to avoid another Appalachian State situation.