Michigan State recently scheduled five future football games spanning from the 2027 to the 2031 seasons.
The first game is a ’27 home battle against FCS-level Duquesne, but the big news was the home-and-home slates against Oklahoma State (road in 2028, home in 2029) and Cincinnati (road in 2030, home in 2031). After filing a public records request with MSU, I have obtained the three contracts for these games. Here is some stuff to know:
Duquesne
This is the only true “buy” game here, which refers to the practice of Power Four teams scheduling Group of Six programs or FCS teams. Interestingly, scheduling a weaker foe from the FCS is usually cheaper than scheduling a Group of Six team. That’s probably because FBS teams just have much larger budgets to manage.
Duquesne is going to cash in on a $500,000 guarantee from the Spartans to come to Spartan Stadium on Sept. 4, 2027. That’s whether the Dukes win or lose. For reference, MSU will pay Central Michigan $1.5 million to play in East Lansing the very next week. It’ll pay Toledo $1.3 million and Eastern Michigan $1.5 million for this season’s games.
There is a good chance Michigan State moves the game up one game to Sept. 3 to play it on Friday night, as is the program’s tradition for season openers. The contract between the two sides was signed by MSU athletic director J Batt on March 27 of this year.
Oklahoma State and Cincinnati
The deal with the Spartans and Oklahoma State is pretty standard. When the Cowboys host on Sept. 16, 2028, it will be a part of the Big 12’s overall TV deal. When they come to East Lansing on Sept. 15, 2029, it will be a part of the Big Ten’s TV deal. Batt signed this deal on April 28, just a little more than a week before the big announcement…