Here's How Duke Basketball Will Benefit From Exhibition Game

With practice beginning last week, the 2026-27 college basketball season is right around the corner. For the Duke Blue Devils, they enter this season with high expectations once again.

They ended last season in disappointing fashion, blowing 19-point lead to UConn in the Elite Eight. The collapse cost the Blue Devils a return to the Final Four and who knows how far they could have gone after that.

However, going into this season Jon Scheyer and his staff could have arguably their best roster in this era. Duke does not have a Cameron Boozer or Cooper Flagg on the roster but they do have four of their top six scorers from a year ago back and the No. 1 recruiting class in the nation. They landed one of the top players in the transfer portal in John Blackwell, adding some much needed experience in the backcourt.

Before Duke hits the court in early November to host Army in their season-opener, they are set to play a few exhibition games. Among them is a home exhibition game to face off against the Tennessee Volunteers.

The two teams meet on October 20th in Durham, giving fans the chance to see both programs early on. Now, we know what some of the reward is.

Per the Knoxville News Sentinel, the two programs agreed to split revenue generated by the game up to $400,000. That means the split allows Tennessee to make up to $200,000 for traveling to play Duke. Any additional revenue exceeding that amount will be retained by Duke, a bonus for the Blue Devils. The report also states that the amount must be paid out within 60 days of playing the game, per the contract signed by Duke athletic director Nina King and UT associate vice chancellor Kim McCullock and deputy athletic director Marshall Steward on May 29.

Right now, the game time and TV designation hasn't been set for the game but the ACC does control the game broadcast.

This exhibition game will be a fun one for both teams. With secret scrimmages being a thing of the past, fans can now attend these preseason games and see the teams first hand rather than rely on reports from a scrimmage.

Duke will also host Belmont and travel to Lawrence, Kansas to face off against the Jayhawks. We should know at least a little bit about this Duke team during these preseason games.