Here's how much South Carolina football is paying its nonconference opponents in 2024

COLUMBIA — South Carolina football begins its 2024 season with a home game against Old Dominion on Aug. 31, which is one of the three nonconference teams South Carolina's athletic department will pay to play at Williams-Brice Stadium this season.

In Week 4, South Carolina hosts Akron from the Mid-American Conference (MAC), then two months later hosts Wofford from the Southern Conference (SoCon) on Nov. 23.

In 2023, South Carolina paid a total of $1.8 million for home games against Furman and Jacksonville State. The Gamecocks opened the season last year against North Carolina in the Duke’s Mayo Classic and each team received $2.5 million according to the Charlotte Business Journal .

According to contracts obtained by The Greenville News via open records requests, South Carolina will pay double the 2023 amount for the three nonconference games in Williams-Brice Stadium this season.

Old Dominion, Aug. 31

South Carolina will pay Old Dominion $1.5 million, due by Jan. 31, 2025. The agreement stated that South Carolina gave Old Dominion 2,000 tickets to sell; the school had to return any unsold tickets to South Carolina four weeks before kickoff. The contract also noted that Old Dominion will be given a suite box for athletic director Camden Wood Selig and 60 sideline passes for coaches, trainers and team employees.

Akron, Sept. 21

South Carolina owes Akron the same amount of $1.5 million for the Week 4 game in Columbia, due by Jan. 31, 2025. The contract also states that South Carolina will give Akron 600 complimentary tickets, and the revenue of the ticket sales will be retained by Akron. Akron also receives 60 sideline passes.

Wofford, Nov. 23

South Carolina and Wofford were scheduled to play in November 2020, but because of the COVID pandemic and the SEC's regulations for the 2020 season, both teams agreed to terminate the game from 2020 and instead will play this year and again in 2026. Both games are in Columbia.

As of now, the 2026 game is set for Sept. 5, but is subject to change based on the their respective conference schedules.

South Carolina has agreed to pay Wofford $600,000 by Jan. 31, 2025, for this year's game.

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In total, South Carolina is paying its 2024 nonconference opponents $3.6 million.

Lulu Kesin covers South Carolina athletics for The Greenville News and the USA TODAY Network. Email her at lkesin@gannett.com and follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter, @Lulukesin

This article originally appeared on Greenville News: Here's how much South Carolina football is paying its nonconference opponents in 2024