Maryland Football Game Incentive

These days, watching a Maryland football game can be pretty painful.

To encourage student attendance at the upcoming home game, the university is offering an intriguing incentive: a semester of free tuition for those who can stay through the fourth quarter of Saturday’s game against Illinois, as reported by WBAL-TV.

Students must claim their tickets for the game, then scan them at SECU Stadium’s entrance. After that, they’ll need to scan a QR code shown on the video board to enter a raffle. The prize? The value of in-state undergraduate tuition for the spring semester—up to around $8,000.

This unique promotion comes at a rough time for the Maryland Terrapins, who are enduring a disappointing season with a record of 2-5 (0-4 in the Big Ten), ultimately leading to the dismissal of head coach Mike Locksley. It’s been quite a while since they won a Big Ten game—dating back to September 20, 2025, when they managed to defeat Wisconsin away from home.

Interestingly, this promotion isn’t directly tied to their struggling season. According to Rachel Palmer, the assistant athletic director for fan development and marketing, the idea emerged over the summer. She shared with WBAL-TV, “We’ve tried a lot of things over the years—raffles, contests—and ultimately landed on this tuition raffle as a way to keep students in their seats for the entire game.”

Palmer added, “It’s kind of a challenge everywhere in college football, honestly. The games are long, and students often have other things vying for their attention. We just want to ensure that supporting our football team at SECU Stadium is a priority, especially on Halloween.”

During the fourth quarter, five finalists will be brought down onto the field, and from there, one winner will be selected.

Maryland’s home games this season have averaged about 42,264 fans, which puts them at 15th out of the 18 teams in the Big Ten.