Here’s how much Georgia Bulldogs are paying Charlotte 49ers for 2025 football game

The Charlotte 49ers play one, sometimes even two, contests against perennial powerhouses each year on the gridiron.

On Saturday, Charlotte makes its first trip between the hedges against the No. 4 Georgia Bulldogs. Entering the game 1-9 (0-7 in the American), Charlotte has 1.9 million reasons to make the 200-mile trip to Athens.

The Bulldogs are paying the 49ers $1.9 million for the non-conference matchup, the largest single-game payout in 49ers’ history, due to Charlotte by January 30, 2026.

Kickoff is set for 12:45 p.m. on Saturday on the SEC Network, marking Charlotte’s sixth game on linear television this season.

No. 4 Georgia (9-1, 7-1 SEC) is a massive 43.5-point favorite (FanDuel Sportsbook) in Saturday afternoon’s matchup, to the point where most sportsbooks aren’t offering a money-line option.

While regularly a double-digit underdog this season, this is the biggest spread in Charlotte’s FBS history. The 49ers were 41.5-point underdogs against the top-ranked and eventual national champion Clemson Tigers in 2019 (the only season that Charlotte had a winning record in program history) and went on to lose 52-10. Clemson paid Charlotte $1 million for that game.

Charlotte signed the deal to play Georgia that same year, more than six years in advance, with the Bulldogs finalizing the contract in July 2019.

In 2023, Florida paid Charlotte $1.55 million (the second-highest game payout for Charlotte) for a matchup in Gainesville, where the 49ers were competitive early but ultimately lost 22-9 (Charlotte was a 28-point underdog).

Looking ahead to 2026, Charlotte has a home-and-home series with Ole Miss coming to town. Should a team back out of the series without sufficient cause, that team would pay a $500,000 cancellation fee, according to the game contract. Charlotte concludes its non-conference slate with a trip to Louisville to take on the Cardinals (a $1.1 million payout for Charlotte).

The 49ers are 1-13 in matchups against Power Four opponents, with their lone victory coming over the Duke Blue Devils in 2021 (Charlotte was a 6.5-point underdog in that bout). Charlotte will likely add another loss to the column on Saturday, but head coach Tim Albin is excited for the opportunity.

“Huge challenge this week at Georgia. We all know the caliber of team they are. We respect all opponents and fear none,” Albin said at his press availability on Tuesday. “We’re going to go in there and play for four quarters. We’re going there to compete.”

Here are some additional notes on the Charlotte-Georgia contract.

More Charlotte-Georgia 2025 game contract details

The contract was finalized over six years ago, in July 2019.

Georgia provided Charlotte 500 free tickets. Charlotte had the option of requesting up to 1,000 additional tickets from Georgia to sell to its fans, with prices set by UGA (any unsold tickets had to be returned by September 22, 2025).

Charlotte’s cheerleaders and mascot are admitted free if in uniform.

Georgia pays for the officials. All parking, concession, merchandise, and venue marketing belong to UGA.

Georgia issues Charlotte up to 60 team bench area passes at no charge, subject to NCAA/SEC rules.

Georgia owns the audio-only rights, but Charlotte can create its own live radio broadcast on our terrestrial network and website.

UGA and the SEC own all broadcast and audiovisual rights; Charlotte can use up to two minutes of footage on its website after the game.