How much is Georgia football paying Western Kentucky?

The No. 2 Georgia Bulldogs host the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers for the second time in school history. Georgia won the first meeting 20 years ago in 2006. The Bulldogs will debut all-white uniforms against Western Kentucky. The Bulldogs are heavy favorites against Western Kentucky, who is a member of Conference USA.

In Week 1, Georgia beat the Tennessee State Tigers 63-3. Tennessee State is a member of the Football Championship Subdivision and received $600,000 to come to Sanford Stadium for one game.

Georgia is paying Western Kentucky $1.9 million to play at Georgia. The Bulldogs and coach Kirby Smart are paying top dollar to host the Hilltoppers, who suffered a 49-14 blowout loss to the Nevada Wolfpack in Week 1.

Western Kentucky’s 35-point loss to Nevada comes as a bit of a surprise. The Hilltoppers have made seven straight bowl games and have won eight or more games in every season since COVID-19.

“It shows you that they have a tremendous evaluation process,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said of Western Kentucky coach Tyson Helton. “They’ve done a great job of developing players. It’s changed, and he’s changed with it because they’ve had to dip into the portal and take more kids out of the portal because more of theirs have moved on through the portal.”

Georgia’s payment to Western Kentucky is not unprecedented. In Week 1, Michigan paid $1.5 million and nearly lost to Western Michigan. Two years ago, Georgia paid $1.9 million to play UMass.

The Georgia-Western Kentucky game will kickoff on Saturday, Sept. 12 at 12:45 p.m. ET. We’ll see if the Bulldogs can their money’s worth against the Hilltoppers.

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This article originally appeared on UGA Wire: How much is Georgia football paying Western Kentucky?