![USF second-year athletic director Michael Kelly has negotiated an amendment with Texas for the Bulls to play a 2020 game in Austin for $1.9 million. [BRONTE WITTPENN | Times]](https://www.tampabay.com/resizer//l0X-jQRcXm0ud-uL9P1e4PCoeY0=/426x0/smart/filters:format(webP)/arc-anglerfish-arc2-prod-tbt.s3.amazonaws.com/public/22XT5MWCRBCVTIISVU6N42QVQU.JPG "USF second-year athletic director Michael Kelly has negotiated an amendment with Texas for the Bulls to play a 2020 game in Austin for $1.9 million. [BRONTE WITTPENN | Times]")
The University of Texas has opted to end its two-for-one football series with USF, though the Bulls will hardly come away empty-handed.
Second-year Bulls athletic director Michael Kelly, who wasn’t on board when the three-game contract was signed in 2014, has negotiated an amendment for the Bulls to still play one game in Austin ― on Sept. 5, 2020 ― that will pay USF $1.9 million.
It’s the largest single-game cash guarantee in USF history.
“We’re disappointed to not have the game here,” Kelly said Friday, “but feel that we’ve negotiated a good compromise.”
Related: Strength of schedule? That comes with a whole lot of stress
Friday’s news coincided with Longhorns’ announcement of a number of additions/revisions to their future schedules, including a home-and-home series with Florida in 2030 and ’31.
Related: Florida Gators announce home-and-home series with Texas Longhorns
The initial deal, negotiated by former USF athletic director Mark Harlan, called for USF to play in Austin in ’20 and ’24, with the Longhorns coming to Tampa on Sept. 3, 2022.
But since then, Texas has hired a new AD (Chris Del Conte) and football coach (Tom Herman). The school approached Kelly about its desire to end the three-game deal earlier this year.
Kelly said he’s “open-minded” in terms of seeking opponents to fill the Bulls’ sudden non-conference vacancies in ’22 and ’24, but added he’ll aggressively pursue other Power Five opposition.
Contact Joey Knight at jknight@tampabay.com. Follow @TBTimes_Bulls.
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