The Louisville Cardinals have added the Eastern Kentucky Colonels to their 2025 football schedule, FBSchedules.com has learned.
Louisville will host Eastern Kentucky at Cardinal Stadium on Aug. 30, 2025. The Cardinals will pay the Colonels a $550,000 guarantee for the game, according to a copy of the contract obtained from the University of Louisville via a state open records request.
Louisville and Eastern Kentucky also have two future football games scheduled that were previously announced. The two schools will meet in Louisville on Sept. 7, 2019 and Sept. 11, 2021. The Colonels will receive $600,000 for the 2019 game and $570,000 for the 2021 game.
Louisville and EKU first met on the gridiron in 1927 and have played 27 times overall. The Cardinals won the most recent game 44-7 in 2013 to extend their lead in the series to 18-8-1.
EKU is the second known non-conference opponent for Louisville for the 2025 season. The Cardinals are also slated to play at Indiana on Sept. 6 that season.
Louisville is the first scheduled opponent for EKU in 2025. The Colonels are a member of the Ohio Valley Conference in the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS).
Football Schedules
Why less money for the 2025 game than the two earlier games
They must have some sort of agreement because the guarantee gets less each game.