Notre Dame Football: Irish Will Pay $1.9M To Cal for 2022 Home Game

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish will pay $1.9 million to the California Golden Bears for a Sept. 17, 2022 home game, according to an agreement released Monday by the Berkeley university.

The payout is more than the $1.25 million promised to Marshall for a home game the week prior, the $1.2 million offered to the Cincinnati Bearcats for a game in Notre Dame Stadium in 2021 and the $1 million given to the Alabama Crimson Tide for a 2028 home game.

The Irish and Golden Bears four times between 1959 and 1967, with Notre Dame prevailing in all four.

Cal moved a non-conference game against the UNLV Rebels to accommodate a trip to South Bend; the agreement does not include a return engagement to the West Coast. The Irish have also promised to sell up 5,000 tickets to their opponent for the game, which is a standard allotment.

If one or the other side needs to cancel the game, they’ll pay $500,000 if they give two or more years notice; $1,000,000 if it’s between one and two years before the game and $1.9 million if notice is given less than one year out.

The Irish’s 2022 schedule currently looks like this:

• Sept. 3 at Ohio State Buckeyes
• Sept. 10 vs. Marshall Thundering Herd (more about that game here)
• Sept. 17 vs. Cal
• Oct. 15 vs. Stanford Cardinal
• Oct. 22 vs. Navy Midshipmen (location TBD)
• Nov. 5 vs. Clemson Tigers
• Nov. 26 at USC Trojans

Still to be determined: Away games against the North Carolina Tar Heels and Syracuse Orange and a home game against the Boston College Eagles.

Credit to Nam Le, a writer for the Cal Rivals site, who first broke this news two months ago:

The deal was consummated Sept. 17, 2019, according to the signed agreement.

Here’s some happy quotes from the press release:

“We are looking forward to visiting Notre Dame, and I know that many of our fans will, too,” Director of Athletics Jim Knowlton said. “Notre Dame Stadium is an iconic venue, and this game provides another opportunity for our alumni to support their Bears on the road. We saw a great turnout for our game at Ole Miss this past season and again at the Redbox Bowl in Santa Clara. I expect we’ll have another large contingent follow us to Notre Dame for this exciting contest.”

”Our players and coaches look forward to playing in an iconic stadium and competing against a college football program with the rich tradition and history of Notre Dame,” Cal head coach Justin Wilcox added. “Notre Dame Stadium has been home to some of college football’s biggest games and greatest moments, and we are excited to give everyone involved with Cal football the opportunity to experience such a renowned place in our sport’s history.”