How much will BYU be paying Utah Tech to play at LaVell Edwards Stadium on Saturday night?

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Utah Tech University will be more than a heavy underdog when it takes on No. 14 BYU on Saturday night at LaVell Edwards Stadium in Provo.

The Trailblazers, who were blasted 54-0 by Montana State last Saturday, are predicted to lose by more than 47 points by oddsmakers.

However, the visitors from St. George will be compensated well for just showing up to face a higher-level instate program that is coming off a 12-2 season and expected to challenge for the Big 12 title in 2026, and perhaps a berth in the College Football Playoff.

According to an amended contract signed in August 2022 by then-BYU athletic director Tom Holmoe and current Utah Tech AD Ken Beazer and obtained by the Deseret News recently through a government open records request, BYU will pay Utah Tech $450,000 for the visit.

The original agreement signed in June 2020 called for the game to be played on Nov. 16, 2024, and for BYU to pay the school then known as Dixie State University $400,000 for the visit.

The contract was amended and the guarantee increased by $50,000 when BYU needed to move the game to this year after having been invited to join the Big 12 in 2021.

The contract also stipulates that the officials’ association that regularly assigns BYU’s home football games shall assign the officials for Saturday night’s game, and BYU will bear those costs.

Additionally, Utah Tech will receive 300 complimentary tickets, and the Trailblazers have had the option of requesting up to 2,000 more tickets on consignment to be sold at the printed face value.

Still, BYU is getting a bargain, considering the school paid another FCS school, Portland State, $650,000 to play in last year’s season-opener at LES. BYU won that game, 69-0.

BYU’s rival, the University of Utah, is also opening the season with a so-called “payday game” against a Big Sky opponent, as Idaho faces the Utes on Thursday night at Rice-Eccles Stadium.

The Deseret News reported on July 16 that Utah is paying Idaho $600,000 after having obtained the contract via a public records request. Idaho is also receiving 300 complimentary tickets and had the option to purchase up to 2,000 tickets in the visitors’ section.

Utah is also on the hook to pay Utah State $600,000 for the Aggies’ visit on Sept. 19. That game will mark second-year USU coach and former BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall’s first return to Rice-Eccles since Sept. 15, 2012. That was the infamous game in which Utah fans stormed the field three times before the Utes pulled out a 24-21 victory.

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