Georgia’s Decision to Drop Florida A&M Could Cost the Rattlers More Than a Game

Florida A&M just lost one of the biggest paydays on its future schedule, and it happened without Georgia having to write a check.

The Rattlers and Bulldogs mutually agreed to cancel their scheduled Sept. 9, 2028 matchup in Athens, according to FBSchedules. The original contract, signed in December 2020, was worth a $650,000 guarantee to Florida A&M. But because both sides called it off together, Georgia won’t owe the cancellation penalty — also $650,000 under the terms of the deal.

This isn’t an isolated move. Georgia has also scrapped its home-and-home series with Florida State for the 2027 and 2028 seasons. The SEC is shifting to a nine-game conference schedule, and that’s forcing programs like the Bulldogs to clear room. Nonconference games against smaller programs are often the first to get cut.

For Florida A&M, the financial hit stings. But there’s another layer here. Games against FBS powerhouses give HBCU programs like the Rattlers a chance to put their players in front of NFL scouts in a high-visibility setting. That opportunity doesn’t come with a price tag, but it matters just as much as the guarantee money.

The Rattlers still have some Power Four and FBS matchups lined up. They’re slated to visit Miami on Sept. 10, 2026, and play South Florida in 2027. Last season, they took on Florida Atlantic and lost 56-14. So the experience isn’t new, but the Georgia game was a different level of exposure.

Georgia, by the way, still opens the 2028 season against an HBCU program. The Bulldogs are scheduled to host Tennessee State on Sept. 5. So the SEC’s shift didn’t knock every HBCU opponent off the schedule — just this one.

The cancellation raises a question that’s been floating around college football for a while: as conference schedules get more demanding, will Power Five programs keep scheduling HBCU schools at all? The guarantees are useful. The exposure is real. But when a school like Georgia has to trim its nonconference slate, the smaller programs are the ones that get left out. And this time, they didn’t even get paid for the inconvenience.