Hampton may have come up empty on the scoreboard against Ohio on Saturday, but it didn’t leave empty-handed.
Ohio paid FCS opponent Hampton $375,000 to play in the 2017 season opener at Peden Stadium, according to a public records request by The Post.
Larger programs paying smaller programs to compete is common practice in college athletics. It’s usually the Mid-American Conference teams, however, that are on the receiving end of a payday.
For example, Ohio’s MAC East foe Kent State played defending national champions Clemson this past weekend — and received $800,000 for a 56-3 loss, according to The Greenville News. The Golden Flashes also received $1.5 million to play Alabama last year.
With a slate of impressive non-conference opponents, Ohio will collect a few paychecks this season.
Ohio will be on the receiving end of a large payday, thanks to Friday’s matchup against Big Ten opponent Purdue — the Boilermakers will pay the Bobcats $550,000 for the non-conference competition.
The contract also notes another huge incentive for Ohio’s athletic department: The men’s basketball team gets to host a home-and-home series against Purdue at a future date. The Boilermakers would become the first team from a major conference to visit The Convo since West Virginia did so in December 2000. At the time, West Virginia was a member of the Big East.
On Sept. 16, Ohio will host Big 12 opponent Kansas at Peden Stadium. Last season, the Bobcats traveled to Lawrence, Kansas, to face the Jayhawks. Kansas paid Ohio $150,000 for the matchup last season, and Ohio is paying the same amount back this season.
This will be Kansas’ first trip to Athens in program history. Ohio defeated Kansas 37-21 last season at Memorial Stadium.
Ohio has an identical deal with Massachusetts, an independent school that the Bobcats will visit on Sept. 30. The Minutemen will host the Bobcats in Amherst, Massachusetts, and UMass will visit Athens next season. For both contests, the home team will pay the visiting team $150,000.
Alongside UMass, Ohio will host FCS opponent Howard next season at Peden Stadium and will travel to Virginia and Cincinnati.
