Utah football is spending nearly $1.5 million for three non-conference home games
· Yahoo Sports
The Utah Utes open the 2026 football season with home field advantage.
Morgan Scalley's team won't leave Salt Lake City until early October, with the entire non-conference slate at Rice-Eccles Stadium. This hasn't happened in 13 years and gives "The U" time to welcome Scalley in his first year as head coach.
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Utah welcomes Idaho for the opener on Thursday, Sept. 3 before SEC opponent Arkansas on Sept. 12 heads far West to open the rare home-and-home series. They'll close out non-conference play with Utah State on Sept. 19. So how much will the friendly schedule cost the Utes?
The total price tag is $1.45 million, according to the Deseret News. Here's the breakdown of what was agreed upon in each contract.
Idaho (Sept. 3)
"In the case of Utah’s game against Idaho, the Utes will get to open the season with a game they’ll surely win big. Idaho’s reward for a near-certain loss is $600,000, according to a copy of the game contract," according to Deseret News.
"Idaho will also receive 300 complimentary tickets to the game at Rice-Eccles Stadium with the option to purchase “up to but not limited to," 2,000 tickets in the visitors’ section."
Arkansas (Sept. 12)
Arkansas coming to Salt Lake City will be interesting. Utah will pay the Razorbacks $250,000, which they'll get back in 2029, per the report.
"Utah will provide Arkansas with 400 complimentary tickets and an allotment of 2,500 tickets for fans to purchase in the visitors’ section."
Arkansas athletic director Hunter Yurachek recently took to social media to fire off a shot about the late start time with the Utes. “I am extremely concerned and displeased about the recently released kickoff times for our football program in consecutive weeks this September and the impact it will have on the well-being of our student-athletes,” Yurachek wrote on X.
“ESPN has set our game at Utah for 9:15 p.m. Central Time on September 12. We anticipate returning to campus at approximately 6 a.m. on Sunday, September 13 — followed by an 11 a.m. home kickoff against Georgia just six days later on September 19.
“This assigned schedule will cost our student-athletes nearly a full day of rest and recovery that they would otherwise have available to them. This is not simply a competitive disadvantage — it is a genuine welfare issue for the young men who represent our program and contribute greatly to the bottom line of our television partners.”
Arkansas will be the second SEC team to visit Utah in the last three years. It's also the first-ever meeting between both schools.
Utah State (Sept. 19)
As for Utah State, the contract is part of a "two-for-one" deal, and "calls for the Utes to pay the Aggies $600,000," according to the Deseret News. "Like the Idaho contract, the Aggies also receive 300 complimentary tickets to the game with the option to purchase “up to but not limited to” 2,000 tickets in the visitors’ section."
What to expect for the future
Here's a look at Utah's future non-conference football games currently on the books.
2027
09/04 - vs Miami (FL) (in Las Vegas, NV)
09/11 - Wyoming
09/25 - Southern Utah
2028
08/31 - Utah Tech
09/09 - Nevada
09/16 - at Wisconsin
2029
08/30 - Weber State
09/15 - at Arkansas
2030
08/29 - Utah Tech
09/07 - UCLA
09/14 - Utah State
2031
08/28 - at Utah State
09/06 - LSU
2032
09/11 - at LSU
2033
09/01 - Utah State
09/10 - Wisconsin
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