When the Wildcats take the field in 2025 to play the TCU Horned Frogs, victory is not so much the school’s objective, though that would certainly make head football coach Keith Patterson happy. It’s the money that fuels the agenda behind the game.
For ACU, matchups with FBS powerhouses are an investment in the future of the Department of Athletics as a whole. These highly compensated “money games” have become a consistent and valuable revenue stream, helping to fund resources and support for all sports. At the same time, they give athletes the chance to perform on major stages and offer national exposure, growing the Wildcat brand.
It’s safe to say ACU won’t be stopping these games anytime soon.
“Our football game guarantees are significant inputs into our entire athletic department budget and go a long way toward helping all of our athletic teams and programs,” Paul Weir, ACU’s deputy athletic director and chief operating officer, said. “It goes into the revenue side of our budget, and those revenues are used to help plan all of our expenses as a whole.”
This is because ACU has made millions of dollars over the past few years from playing high-caliber Power Four and Group of Five opponents like TCU, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, and Tulsa.
These “money games,” where an FCS school like ACU plays a more prominent FBS opponent, typically carry a compensation ranging from $300,000 to well over $1 million, based on the deal.
In ACU’s case, it is receiving $375,000 on two separate occasions from Texas Tech. One for this past August and another for the 2026 season. For its 2023 game against Texas A&M, the payout was $550,000 for one of two games, the latter upcoming in 2028, a deal that was constructed back in 2018. Lastly, in 2023, ACU raked in $375,000 from the University of North Texas.
Other games against private schools like TCU and Tulsa are undisclosed; however, they are expected to range between $300,000 and $650,000 each.
Why even pay the buyouts if you’re a TCU or other FBS school?
For FBS programs like TCU, scheduling FCS opponents is a planned-out strategic move that has been happening now for years.
For example, this upcoming season, with TCU’s inherited slate of tough conference and nonconference Power Four games, the Horned Frogs in 2025 have 11 Power Four conference opponents. The games that feature FCS opponents are used to balance out the season’s intensity, but sometimes things don’t go to plan.
“There’s never any guarantees when you play somebody,” TCU associate athletics director for strategic and football communications Mark Cohen said. “But just to kind of even out the schedule a little bit, you typically would have an FCS opponent.”
From an outsider’s perspective, some might see the games as “cupcakes” or “lobs,” in a slight basketball connection, for FBS schools.
However, Cohen noted that FCS teams like ACU tend to possess some talented squads, especially now with today’s modern transfer portal and NIL, drawing skillful players to the FCS level.
“Some of these FCS schools have got guys that have tons of years of experience, including quarterbacks, at the FBS or even Power Four level,” Cohen said.
Which is exactly true in ACU’s case, as 2024 starter Maverick McIvor, who, before injury, led the nation in passing yards, played at Texas Tech for three years.
Some other notable 2024 roster FBS transfers included Jed Castles and Nehemiah Martinez from Texas Tech, J.J. Henry from Ole Miss and Jacoby Boykins from Alabama, to name a few.
Still, on paper, it’s just TCU, or any other FBS school, versus ACU, which often sparks a common debate. If the FCS team wins, critics and fans dismiss it as expected. But if they lose, it’s seen as a letdown, fueling frustration and criticism.
What’s in it for ACU?
Outside of just money, these games help with just about everything else.
At first glance, the obvious answer is that players get to play on the big stage, which Patterson seconds.
“It’s about giving an opportunity for young men to play high-quality, high-level football and for us to develop them as athletes—but as individuals as well,” Patterson said.
But it is a whole lot bigger than that.
“Look at what we’ve done the last three years playing Missouri, Texas A&M and Texas Tech,” Patterson said. “It’s not just the fact that we played those three teams — it was that it was competitive.”
In their 2024 campaign, the Wildcats came just short of a massive upset over Texas Tech in Lubbock, falling just shy with a gutsy two-point conversion call ending the game 52-51.
Patterson suggested that the close fight against Tech raised ACU’s profile in many facets.
“People are still talking about the Texas Tech game,” Patterson said. “That was nine or 10 months ago, and we’re already planning for the 2025 season.”
And we’ve seen this before. Back in 2021, when ACU beat Texas in the first round of March Madness, the publicity given to ACU indirectly brought over $1 million worth of exposure to the university, not to mention the guaranteed money earned to participate in the tournament.
Scheduling:
ACU isn’t hiding behind the challenges either. Patterson welcomes playing two FBS games annually, considering them vital to the growth of the program.
“I’m not afraid of playing two of those money games a year because I understand the importance at a small private school of what that does for the athletic department,” Patterson said.
And a lot goes into making these games happen. Weir says it’s one of the most important tasks an athletic director has.
“An athletic director is weighing the financial compensation, opponent, location, game date available, expected travel considerations, and so on,” Weir said. “Playing a larger university, particularly within our region with a significant brand, definitely plays into those variables to consider.”
In the future, Patterson would like to keep ACU’s games local, playing in Texas and Oklahoma to save on costs while also tapping into the big talent near the Big Country.
“There’s no logic to go to Missouri unless the payoff is worth it,” Patterson said. “There’s just so many quality opponents here right in our backyard that you can just jump on a bus and be there in a couple of hours.”
What’s to come:
With the momentum built and an ever-growing Wildcat program at hand, the future looks bright for ACU football and Athletics, financially and on the college football map.
And to answer the question of whether any of these opponents would pack it up and take a trip to tackle the Wildcats in Abilene: It’s kind of all about the stadium.
Wildcat Stadium seats about 12,000 fans, which makes the possibility of hosting an FBS school on campus slim to none. However, Patterson said that when and if ACU does increase its stadium size, it could then negotiate “two-for-one” deals, where a Power Four team plays two home games and one at ACU.
“If we ever increase the capacity of our stadium, that could become a reality,” Patterson said. “But again, to me, I don’t mind traveling. I’ll play every FBS opponent in the state of Texas.”
