ASU Is Paying Hawaii $1.3 Million to Come to Tempe — Now the Sun Devils Have to Earn the Blowout

TEMPE, Ariz.

College football's money is usually hidden behind layers of buyout clauses and TV contracts. Not this one. Arizona State is paying Hawaii $1.3 million to show up at Mountain America Stadium on Saturday night, and we know because the Arizona Republic got the contract through a public records request and printed the number. One point three million dollars. For one Saturday night under the lights. That's the business of the buy game, out in the open — and after the 55-19 home humiliation Baylor hung on the Sun Devils, ASU needs the blowout to look like it was worth every penny.

Start with the economics, because this is the rare college football story where the economics are the story. Per the Republic's reporting, ASU's $1.3 million guarantee to Hawaii is textbook for a Power Four program hosting a Group of Six opponent: the big school buys a home game it should win, the small school cashes a check that actually matters. For Hawaii, that check covers roughly 3% of an athletics department that operates on about $40 million to $45 million a year — one game, three percent of the budget. That's not a rounding error, that's payroll. Hawaii covers its own travel (transportation, lodging, meals — and the Rainbow Warriors' travel budget exceeds $5 million a year, per athletic department reports), while ASU picks up the game officials and all stadium and game-management expenses. The contract also gives Hawaii 400 complimentary tickets, with the option to buy up to 500 more at face value — a nice touch for the fans making the trip from the islands.

Now the football, because the money only makes sense if the home team holds up its end. Arizona State is 2-2 overall and 1-1 in the Big 12, and the record doesn't tell you how the last game felt: a 55-19 home demolition by Baylor that the Sun Devils will be hearing about all week. Fourth-year head coach Kenny Dillingham has built his program on energy and edge, and getting boat-raced at home is the kind of thing that either galvanizes a locker room or exposes it. Saturday is the Hall of Fame game at Mountain America Stadium, a showcase night, and the schedule-makers' intent is unmistakable: this is the get-right game, bought and paid for.

Hawaii, to its credit, is not flying across the Pacific to be a prop. The Rainbow Warriors are 1-4 and 0-3 in the Mountain West, and this is a program that knows exactly what it is in these spots: take the check, take the swing, and if you catch a Power Four team sleepwalking, you become a trivia answer forever. The history here is thin but fun. The teams haven't met since the 2006 Hawaii Bowl — a 41-24 Hawaii win — and Hawaii hasn't played in Tempe since 1958. The Rainbow Warriors are 0-2 all-time in Tempe, and ASU leads the series 5-2, per Hawaii's athletic department. Nearly 70 years between visits to the Valley. For the fans making the trip from Honolulu, those 400 comp tickets are going to get used.

One scheduling quirk worth knowing: this game wasn't supposed to be in October. It was originally set for September 19, but an amendment in late 2025 moved it — because ASU needed that date open to play Kansas at Wembley Stadium in London, per the Republic. Read that again: Arizona State moved a home buy game so it could go play a Big 12 conference game in London. The sport is completely unrecognizable from what it was a decade ago, and the $1.3 million check for Hawaii is just the most honest receipt in the building.

What to watch Saturday: it's simple. Does ASU look like a team that got embarrassed, or a team that got exposed? A 55-19 home loss doesn't wash off with a sloppy 10-point win over a 1-4 team — the Sun Devils need to look like the heavy favorite they're supposed to be, early and often, in front of a Hall of Fame night crowd. Dillingham's teams feed off momentum; a fast start turns Mountain America Stadium into exactly the loud, late-night environment these guarantee games are supposed to showcase. A slow start, and the only people having fun will be the ones who flew in from Honolulu with free tickets. Kickoff is 7:30 p.m. PT on FS1 — Dan Hellie and Robert Smith on the call — with the radio broadcast on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM.