.Northern Illinois stunned No. 5 Notre Dame last weekend break on a last-second basket to mark college regulation football's very first major distress of 2024. For the Huskies, it is actually a succeed they'll be commemorating for several years ahead. For the Combating Irish, it is actually a season-crusher. To shed the home opener to a small university coming from a greatly substandard conference was actually a discomfort for Notre Dame.Especially since they paid out NIU $1.4 million to do it.This radiates a light on among the lengthiest and also very most pricey heritages in university soccer: assurance games. They're likewise called "amount of money games," "payday activities," or even, as I as if to contact them, "buy full weeks." A pricey (and also risky) traditionFor years, in the first couple of full weeks of the season, major college soccer institutions have actually paid for smaller sized colleges ahead to play them in their house.In Week 1 alone, more than $35 million was devoted all over at least 55 assurance games, according to Front Office Sports. Alabama wrote the biggest inspection to its own challenger, Western Kentucky, for a whopping $1.9 thousand. WKU dropped that video game 63-- 0, however they possibly hit the bank on the bus ride home and probably will not think twice about it.In Full week 2, 3 universities-- Western side Michigan, Center Tennessee, as well as Utah Condition-- got payouts larger than NIU's $1.4 million. They lost through a mixed rating of 156-- 3, but they take away a total amount of $4.85 thousand in the process.It's commonly a good deal for both staffs. The small colleges acquire a paycheck, the huge institutions receive yet another home game to milk gameday earnings. The small school gets to play on the large phase and receive nationwide visibility, the large one gets a cupcake on the timetable to start the year in a sporting activity with no preseason. Thus all's effectively and also really good until the lesser group determines to show out and draw the distress.