This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
It's no great secret how this works: A Football Bowl Subdivision school irons out its wrinkles in the process of (usually) steamrolling an overmatched Football Championship Subdivision school, which earns a hefty check for its players' scars.
According to the Billings Gazette, this arrangement will play out 108 times in 2014.
Records show Utah paid Idaho State $400,000 for its strong chin in a 56-14 thumping on Aug. 28. That $400,000 would have amounted to 15 percent of the Bengals' total football revenues in 2012, and given that Idaho State then played Utah State the following week, it's not a stretch to say that the school will make from two road games about half of what it earns during the rest of its season.
For Utah, these games held little appeal as a member of the Mountain West Conference, when they needed a boost to their strength of schedule more than they needed a tune-up.
Before joining the Power 5, Utah had played an FCS opponent just twice in the previous 16 seasons. Barring a costly buyout, they will have played an FCS opponent eight times in their first nine seasons in the Pac-12 — at a total cost of $3,710,000, or $412,222.
All of the opponents come from the Big Sky, against which Utah is 36-0 all-time.
Included in most deals is a buyout clause that costs either school somewhere between the FCS school's game price and $1,000,000 to back out. The visiting FCS schools also between 300 and 500 complimentary tickets, the option to purchase up to 2,000 or 3,000 tickets, and a 30-second advertisement on TV broadcasts.
Sept. 1, 2011 (entered into June 30, 2010)
Utah vs. Montana State
Utah pays Montana State $375,000
Aug. 30, 2012 (entered into June 15, 2011)
Utah vs. Northern Colorado
Utah pays Northern Colorado $550,000
Sept. 7, 2013 (entered into June 15, 2011)
Utah vs. Weber State
Utah pays Weber State $400,000
Aug. 28, 2014 (entered into July 26, 2012)
Utah vs. Idaho State
Utah pays Idaho State $400,000
Sept. 1, 2016 (entered into Sept. 10, 2012)
Utah vs. Southern Utah
Utah pays Southern Utah $435,000
Aug. 31, 2017 (entered into Dec. 12, 2012)
Utah vs. North Dakota
Utah pays North Dakota $450,000
Aug. 30, 2018 (entered into June 4, 2014)
Utah vs. Weber State
Utah pays Weber State $550,000
— Matthew Piper
Aug. 29, 2019 (entered into June 5, 2014)
Utah vs. Idaho State
Utah pays Idaho State $550,000
Twitter: @matthew_piper