Until last week, Auburn football’s 2026 season opener was scheduled to take place inside Jordan-Hare Stadium as the return leg of Auburn’s home-and-home series with Baylor.
Now, that game is set to be played at Mercedez-Benz Stadium in Atlanta as the 2026 Aflac Kickoff Game. The change will also allow Auburn players to earn NIL money from ticket sales, the game itself and surrounding events.
However, it also takes away a home game from Auburn, meaning the Tigers will play at Jordan-Hare Stadium just six times in 2026. Part of that is due to the new 9-game SEC schedule, in which Auburn is scheduled to play four conference home games and five conference road games next season.
In an interview with AL.com, Auburn athletic director John Cohen said due to the type of NIL opportunities the game creates, it could be considered “irresponsible” to not make the move.
“I never thought we would get to the level of this game actually moving, because I never thought the type of NIL opportunities could possibly get to the level that they got to,” Cohen said. “Let’s face it, name, image and likeness is now a primary focus for student athletes making decisions. And I’m not saying that’s bad. I’m not saying it’s good. I’m saying it’s 2025 and that’s the lens we have to look through.”
One concern expressed by Auburn fans and city officials following the move was the impact it’d have on local businesses. When discussing why the move was made, Cohen mentioned the university’s recent partnership with Peachtree Entertainment, which will bring at least five concerts annually to Auburn’s on-campus venues.
Those concerts will begin in 2026 and will take place inside Jordan-Hare Stadium and Neville Arena.
“We were able to put together a five-concert series in our athletic department facilities, one of which is going to be in Jordan-Hare and four will be in our arena,” Cohens said. “Which will drive not only opportunities for name, image and likeness and opportunities for revenue for the city of Auburn, but all of these things really fit together.”
Cohen said he, Auburn president Christopher Roberts and the Auburn Board of Trustees “feel like it’s a very serious decision to move anything off of our campus.” However, he felt the concert series gave them more license to do so for the opportunity that the game in Atlanta presents.
On3’s Brett McMurphy reported when the move was first announced that the game being moved could create up to $5 million in NIL dollars for the program.
According to a press release, the Aflac Kickoff Game, through a partnership with Peach Bown Inc., “will work with third-party entities to secure marketing assets and promotional appearances by Auburn student-athletes, giving them meaningful visibility and new avenues to benefit from their NIL.”
“I fully don’t expect fans to completely understand. I don’t expect the entire Auburn community to understand, especially the downtown merchants, and I understand why they would be upset,” Cohen said. “But I’m charged with making the best decisions for our athletic department and for our student athletes, and based on all the information that we gathered, this is the decision we made. We feel like it’s still the right decision.”
The 2026 season opener between Auburn and Baylor is set for Sept. 5. Auburn beat Baylor 38-24 in the first leg of the series in 2025.
Next year’s season opener will be Auburn’s fourth ever appearance in the Aflac Kickoff Game, and the first time the Tigers have played in Atlanta since 2018.