South Carolina to pay UNC $1M for canceling football series

South Carolina will pay North Carolina $1 million for canceling a two-game football series between the schools, according to a letter obtained by WRAL.

The Gamecocks and Tar Heels were scheduled to play Sept. 2, 2028 in Columbia, South Carolina and Sept. 1, 2029 in Chapel Hill. 

South Carolina athletics director Jeremiah Donati sent the letter to Bubba Cunningham, his counterpart at North Carolina on April 16. Cunningham accepted the letter on April 29.

South Carolina announced that the schools had mutually agreed to cancel the series on May 22.

The letter doesn’t offer any reason for the cancellation of the series that was agreed to in 2020.

The cancellation leaves North Carolina without a Power 4 opponent in 2028 or 2029. The ACC, which is moving to a nine-game conference schedule, mandates that schools play 10 games each season.

The SEC is also moving to nine conference games. The series contract stipulated that the cancellation fee dropped from $1.5 million to $1 million if the terminating team’s conference mandated an additional league game less than three years from the scheduled date of the game.

North Carolina has nonconference games scheduled against Kennesaw State and North Carolina A&T in 2028. The Tar Heels don’t have any nonconference games scheduled for 2029 after the South Carolina game was canceled.