The Fiesta Bowl is all set for an exciting matchup between Miami and Ole Miss. Aside from this being the last stop for either team in their run for the National Championship, there’s a lucrative check up for grabs at the end of the game. Here is what we know about the Fiesta Bowl prize money.

How much prize money does the Fiesta Bowl pay?

The Fiesta Bowl will award its winner a whopping $6 million this season. But a key point to note here is that the prize money actually goes to the conference instead of the actual team. The money is split up with the winning team afterwards. Miami, however, stands to gain significantly here because the ACC is allowing playoff teams to retain all of the prize money.

Fiesta Bowl Prize Money by Year (CFP era)

In the BCS era, the Fiesta Bowl payout used to be as high as $18 million, considering it was one of the bigger bowl games.

Ever since the College Football Playoff committee took over the BCS, the payout rules have changed. Up until 2023, the committee would award $4 million to conferences for quarterfinal bowl games and $6 million for winning the semifinal bowl games. A conference team was also slated to get $4 million if it won the non-playoff bowl games. In those years, the Fiesta Bowl has been in and out of hosting playoff games, and has usually taken place as a regular bowl game.

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How does the Fiesta Bowl prize compare to other bowls?

All quarterfinal bowl games this season had a payout of $4 million. Like the Fiesta Bowl, the Peach Bowl winner will take home $6 million, since it is a semifinal game. Non-playoff bowl games also have prizes in a similar range.

Sun Bowl – $4.55 million

Gator Bowl – $5.35 million

Liberty Bowl – $6 million

Citrus bowl – $8 million

How the Fiesta Bowl payout is distributed to conferences

The ACC changed its redistribution rules this season, allowing teams to retain all of their money, along with the additional 3 million allotted as travel costs. That means Miami is taking home at least $14 million after the Fiesta Bowl. Other conferences, however, take a share of the CFP payout.

The SEC has its own distribution system when it comes to playoff games. The league gives 3.75 million to teams participating in the semifinals. Ole Miss has a chance of winning $9.75 million in this year’s Fiesta Bowl. A Big 10 or Big 12 team playing this game would have still taken home $6 million, as there is no special rule here. However, the leagues will divide the total playoff earnings among all conference members.

Both Ole Miss and Miami have a chance to see their painstaking efforts culminate in something grand at the Fiesta Bowl. Both have finally made the CFP era playoffs as first-timers and will meet their match in each other. Fans will throng the State Farm Stadium to see an electric Trinidad Chambliss try and charge through an elite Miami defense. At the end of the night, it will be either Mario Cristobal or Pete Golding who gets to leave with $6 million and a ticket to the Nattys.