FOIA: CMU, EMU splitting $850k tab for 2 games at Ford Field

Central Michigan and Eastern Michigan universities announced in January that the next two regular season football games between the in-state rival rivals were moving to Ford Field in Detroit. 

And that move comes with an up-front price tag of $850,000, with each game requiring a one-time facilities use fee of $425,000, as outlined in a licensing agreement between the schools and Ford Field Management, LLC, as agent for the Detroit Lions. Mitten Football obtained the agreement via a Freedom of Information Act request. 

The licensing agreement, signed and executed in mid-January after being agreed upon in November, is the contract laying out costs, facilities access, and the various components of bringing regular season MAC football to Michigan’s NFL venue. 

The game is expected to be a mid-week November MAC game each of the next two years. The MAC has yet to release its 2026 schedule. 

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