The Penn State Nittany Lions have added the Ball State Cardinals to their 2028 football schedule, FBSchedules.com has learned.
A copy of the football game agreement with The Pennsylvania State University was obtained from Ball State University via a state public records request.
Penn State will host Ball State at Beaver Stadium in University Park, Pa., on Saturday, Sept. 2, 2028. The Nittany Lions will pay the Cardinals a $1.45 million guarantee for the contest, according to the copy of the contract.
In their first and only meeting on the gridiron, Penn State defeated Ball State 44-13 at home in 2021.
Ball State, a member of the Mid-American Conference (MAC), is the second known non-conference opponent for Penn State in 2028. One week after hosting Ball State, the Nittany Lions are scheduled to travel to face the Syracuse Orange on Sept. 9.
Penn State has three other non-conference matchups with MAC opponents on their future schedules. The Nittany Lions are slated to host Bowling Green and Kent State in 2024 and Buffalo in 2026.
Penn State is the second scheduled non-conference opponent for Ball State in 2028. The Cardinals are also scheduled to visit the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers on Sept. 16 that season.
Ball State now has ten future contests scheduled against teams from power conferences. The Cardinals will visit Kentucky and Georgia in 2023, Miami (FL) in 2024, Purdue and Auburn in 2025, Ohio State and Indiana in 2026, Iowa and Kentucky in 2027, and now Penn State in 2028.
Football Schedules