The money behind Alabama and Auburn’s Birmingham exhibition matchup is now laid out in black and white.
When the Crimson Tide edged Auburn 87-85 at the BJCC on Oct. 22, the night carried the feel of something bigger than a preseason scrimmage. The contract tied to the game shows why: in the modern revenue game, even an exhibition comes with a split.
According to the agreement obtained by AL.com through an open records request, Alabama received a flat $20,000 participation fee, then a cut of the money from ticket and sponsorship sales. Once total sales climbed past $325,000, both schools were set to receive 35% of the gross revenue above that figure, while Birmingham-based sports agency Knight Eady kept the remaining 30%.
That threshold appears to have been surpassed without much trouble. The announced crowd was 13,184, and the arena featured a wide range of ticket prices.
The cheapest seats were limited and sold for $30, which means ticket revenue alone would have come close to $400,000 if every fan had bought at that lowest price. On the other end, lower bowl seats were priced at more than $100 and were filled.
Knight Eady handled the event expenses, including the venue rental. Alabama’s contract also gave the school 6,800-7,200 tickets to sell in its designated sections, with the 17,000-seat arena split evenly between Alabama and Auburn fans. Alabama was responsible for marketing those tickets, and all sales went through Knight Eady’s ticketing platform.
Auburn’s contract, also obtained through a records request, used the same ticket language. But the compensation line listed a fixed sum of “$0,000.” When AL.com asked Auburn through its open records portal for clarification, there was no response.
The same oddity showed up in the schools’ earlier Birmingham exhibitions as well. Knight Eady also ran the Ballin in Boutwell event, which featured five games from Oct.
13-15. AL.com requested the contracts for Alabama and Auburn’s men’s games in that event, and both schools responded with agreements that listed participation compensation as “$0,000” for Auburn and “$0” for Alabama.
Those games were played at Boutwell Auditorium, a 2,316-seat venue a few blocks from the BJCC in downtown Birmingham. Alabama beat Mississippi 92-84, while Auburn fell to Florida State 82-71. Both Alabama and Auburn women also won their games at Boutwell.
In Alabama’s open records portal, the school described that agreement as the “redacted copy” of the contract with Knight Eady.
This was the third year of the event, which started with only one game in 2024. Alabama played Wake Forest that October under different NCAA exhibition game rules, and that 2024 contract also gave Alabama a flat $25,000 for participating.
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