Boise State Football Finalizes Game With Florida State
This game will be huge!
Save the date now. Our Boise State Broncos will open the 2019 season against the Florida State Seminoles on August 31 in Jacksonville, FL! The game be will be held at the Jacksonville Jaguar's NFL stadium, making it the first time BSU's opened the season on a neutral field since 2014's opener against Ole Miss in Atlanta.
Now, if you're a die hard BSU fan, that's not a huge surprise to you. The deal has been in the works for a few years, but it didn't become official until Wednesday afternoon.
What to Expect
While our future ACC opponent struggled a bit in 2017, FSU had quite winning reputation a few years ago. They had back to back undefeated regular seasons in 2013 and 2014, winning the final BCS National Championship Game along the way. The Seminoles were also included in the first four teams to make it to the College Football Playoffs, where they'd lose to the Oregon Ducks 20-59 in the Rose Bowl.
Florida State went 7-6 in 2017 and weren't even a distant choice to make the final AP Top 25 after bowl game season was over. Boise State had a much bigger year. The Broncos finished the season 11-3 and picked up a Mountain West Championship and Vegas Bowl trophy along the way.
Details of the Deal
According to 24/7 Sports, this game will be the first of two between the schools. The Seminoles will have to play the Broncos on the Blue on September 19, 2020. As part of the deal, Florida State will pay Boise State $400,000 before February 2020. The Broncos will get 300 complimentary tickets and 60 sideline passes for the game. Our athletic office will get just 2,500 tickets to sell to fans.
Cancelling the game isn't cheap. If it's canceled due to a catastrophe like a hurricane, everyone's relieved of the fine print in the contract but purposely cancelling the came carries a penalty of $1,000,000. If it's done within 12 months of the game, that becomes a $2,000,000 penalty.