The University of Maine’s football program will earn its second-highest payday for a game against a Football Bowl Subdivision opponent in 2027 when it visits Penn State University.
The Sept. 11, 2027, game will be the first ever meeting between the two.
UMaine will receive a $625,000 guarantee for the game, according to Tyson McHatten, the senior associate director of athletics for external operations and communications.
That’s second only to the $635,000 the school received from its 2024 trip to the University of Oklahoma.
UMaine is in the Football Championship Subdivision, which has fewer scholarships and not nearly the financial resources that Football Bowl Subdivision schools have.
The game replaces a previously scheduled contest between Penn State and Delaware, which was canceled by mutual consent.
The UMaine-Penn State game will be played at the West Shore Home Field at Beaver Stadium in University Park, Pennsylvania, which is the second-largest stadium in the United States with a capacity of 106,304. Only Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor holds more (107,601).
The Nittany Lions had a tumultuous 2025 season as 12-year head coach James Franklin was fired in October in the midst of a three-game losing streak.
Penn State finished the regular season with a four-game winning streak under interim head coach Terry Smith, including a 22-10 win over Clemson in the Pinstripe Bowl at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx.
The Nittany Lions wound up 7-6 with five of their losses being by six points or less, including a 27-24 loss to national champion Indiana and a 30-24 double overtime loss to College Football Playoff semifinalist Oregon.
Former Iowa State head coach Matt Campbell was named to replace Franklin at the end of the season.
Penn State went 13-3 in 2024 and reached the College Football Playoff semifinals, where it lost to Notre Dame 27-24.
Penn State won national championships in 1982 and 1986 under head coach Joe Paterno.
UMaine is coming off a 6-6 campaign, 5-3 in the Coastal Athletic Association, under fourth-year head coach Jordan Stevens.
It was the best season of Stevens’ tenure.
UMaine will play two FBS schools this coming fall with a Sept. 5 date at Appalachian State in North Carolina and a Sept. 19 contest at Boston College.
UMaine will earn a $350,000 guarantee for the Appalachian State game and $400,000 for the trip to Boston College.
