BYU getting $1.375 million for Michigan game

[Fido]

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The Michigan Wolverines are willing to pay quite a bit more for a visit from the BYU Cougars for a football game this September than the Nebraska Cornhuskers are, it appears.

Michigan will pay BYU $1.375 million for the single-game visit on Sept. 26, The Salt Lake Tribune has learned by obtaining the game contract from the University of Michigan via an open records request.

The contract, which was signed on Nov. 2, 2012 by athletic directors at both schools, accompanies this report. Michigan athletic director Dave Brandon resigned last October.

As the Tribune learned through a similar FOIA request last week, Nebraska will play BYU $1 million for its visit to Lincoln on Sept. 5.

BYU’s other four away games in 2015 — at UCLA, at San Jose State, at Utah State and vs. Missouri at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City — are all home-and-home agreements and don’t require huge payouts to the visiting team.

However, the contract for the BYU-Missouri series stipulates that the home team will guarantee a payment of $250,000 after each game to the visitor.

As for the BYU-Michigan contract, that Michigan is paying BYU upwards of $1.3 million is not a surprise. UM’s Brandon told a small group of reporters a few days after the game was announced in 2012 that UM would pay BYU “about $1.3 million” for the visit.

He said it is among the highest payouts in Michigan football history, and that the Wolverines will play Colorado a similar amount in 2016.

Brandon said at the time that payouts for “branded teams” were around $900,000, but have shot up in recent years.

“BYU, that’s someone I really wanted to schedule,” Brandon told Mlive.com. “That’s a great program and it will be fun to have them here. It will be a big test for our team because they’re always good and we’re not going to return a visit.”

Of course, Brandon is no longer there to enjoy the fun, and neither is former BYU tormentor Brady Hoke, who was fired. Jim Harbaugh will be coaching the Wolverines, and as obvious storyline will be his matchup against BYU QB Taysom Hill, who committed to Harbaugh at Stanford before deciding to transfer to BYU during his LDS Church mission to Australia.

A couple more observations from the BYU-Michigan contract:

* Big Ten referees will officiate the game, and BYU has agreed to use the Big Ten instant replay system. No surprise there — Big Ten officials will also call the BYU-Nebraska game.

* The check for $1.375 million isn’t due at BYU until Feb. 1, 2016.

* Just as it did for the Nebraska game, BYU went out of its way to ensure that BYUtv can use highlights for its True Blue show.

* BYU will get 400 free tickets to the game, with the option of purchasing 2,500 more tickets to sell through its own ticket system. Shouldn’t be a problem, though, since the Big House seats 109,000.

[snoscythe]

Just think about how many more advertisements BYU can afford to put up in LES now!!!!

[/bitter tic]