MISSOULA — The Montana Grizzlies will play eight home games for the 2025 football season, the university announced Tuesday.
With the completion of next year’s schedule, the Grizzlies will become the first known FCS team ever to play eight regular-season home football games in 2025, director of athletics Kent Haslam said.
Montana will play a 12-game schedule for a second-straight year in 2025 with 13 Saturdays falling between Labor Day and Thanksgiving.
The Griz start the season with four consecutive home games in September and six of their first seven inside Washington-Grizzly Stadium through mid-October. Home games against Eastern Washington and Montana State will cap an exciting regular season home slate in November.
This coming year Montana plays a seven-game home schedule for the first time since 2007 and for just the fifth time in program history. An eight-game home slate will be a program and FCS first.
“The opportunity to play eight home football games during the regular season is unprecedented in the FCS. We would not be able to build this schedule without the amazing fan base we have here at Montana. Putting a football schedule together is no easy task and I credit Ryan Martin with the support of Coach Hauck for piecing this together,” Haslam stated in a press release.
2025 will also be a marathon for the Griz, with the team’s bye week falling on Labor Day weekend, meaning UM will play 12 straight games without a break through to the end of November.
Montana will open the season Sept. 6 against NCAA Division II Central Washington before hosting a pair of Missouri Valley Football Conference teams in North Dakota (Sept. 13) and Indiana State (Sept. 20).
The Griz then open Big Sky Conference play in a battle for the Little Brown Stein on Sept. 27 against Idaho to cap a four-game homestand.
UM then takes to the road for one game, traveling to face Idaho State on Oct. 4 before returning to Missoula to face Cal Poly on Oct. 11.
Montana will then play a rare mid-season non-conference game against Sacred Heart, a newly independent FCS program out of Fairfield, Connecticut, that was formerly a member of the Northeast Conference. The Griz and Pioneers will play the first-time matchup on Oct. 18 in Missoula.
UM then hits the road for two straight weeks, traveling to face Sacramento State on Oct. 25 followed by a trip to face Weber State on Nov. 1.
The Grizzlies return home Nov. 8 to face Eastern Washington before returning to the road for the final time in the regular season to face Portland State on Nov. 15.
Montana caps the regular season with the 124th Brawl of the Wild game against Montana State on Nov. 22 in Washington-Grizzly Stadium.
The Grizzlies are coming off a record-breaking year with 18,761 season ticket packages sold in 2023, a year that saw UM win its 19th Big Sky title and advance to the FCS national championship.
Season ticket renewals for the 2024 year are now under way. Current season ticket holders will have until April 12 to renew their seats before unpaid tickets are released. Deposits for new season ticket packages are also currently being accepted. Packages for new customers go on sale starting May 6.
Season tickets start at just $200 and ensure fans a seat at all seven home games this fall as well as guaranteed access to playoff tickets, which sold out for the first time ever in 2023.
UM went 9-0 at home last year and sold out all six of its regular season games as well as the semifinal game against NDSU — the first playoff sellout in program history. The six-game sellout streak extended Montana's regular season sellout run to 10 straight games dating back to Sept. 24, 2022.
The Griz also set two single-game attendance records and surpassed 27,000 fans in one game for the first time in school history (27,178 vs. Montana State) in 2023. Overall, five of the top-25, and four of the top-five highest-attended games in the history of Washington-Grizzly Stadium occurred last year (Montana State, Ferris State, Idaho State, Sacramento State and North Dakota State).
That added up to the highest total attendance in FCS football (225,623) and the second-highest average attendance at 25,069 fans per game — a higher average than a third of FBS programs.
Montana opens its 12-game 2024 schedule on Aug. 31 at home against Missouri State.
Montana future football schedules
(Home games in CAPS)
2025
8.30 Open
9.6 CENTRAL WASHINGTON
9.13 NORTH DAKOTA
9.20 INDIANA STATE
9.27 IDAHO
10.4 @ Idaho State
10.11 CAL POLY
10.18 SACRED HEART
10.25 @ Sacramento State
11.1 @ Weber State
11.8 EASTERN WASHINGTON
11.15 @ Portland State
11.22 MONTANA STATE
2026
9.5 Open
9.12 UTAH TECH
9.19 @ Missouri State
9.26 PORTLAND STATE
10.3 @ UC Davis
10.10 SACRAMENTO STATE
10.17 Open
10.24 @ Idaho
10.31 IDAHO STATE
11.7 @ Northern Arizona
11.14 NORTHERN COLORADO
11.21 @ Montana State
2027
9.4 Open
9.11 Open
9.18 UTAH TECH
9.25 @ Cal Poly
10.2 WEBER STATE
10.9 @ Northern Colorado
10.16 @ Portland State
10.23 Open
10.30 UC DAVIS
11.6 NORTHERN ARIZONA
11.13 @ Eastern Washington
11.20 MONTANA STATE
