.Northern Illinois stunned No. 5 Notre Dame final weekend break on a last-second basket to notch college regulation football's very first huge trouble of 2024. For the Huskies, it is actually a gain they'll be actually commemorating for years to follow. For the Combating Irish, it is actually a season-crusher. To lose the home opener to a tiny school from a greatly poor event was actually a humiliation for Notre Dame.Especially due to the fact that they spent NIU $1.4 thousand to perform it.This radiates a light on among the longest as well as very most expensive traditions in university football: assurance games. They are actually likewise gotten in touch with "funds games," "paycheck games," or, as I just like to call all of them, "get weeks." An expensive (and also dangerous) traditionFor decades, in the 1st handful of weeks of the season, major college football institutions have actually paid out much smaller institutions to find to play them in their house.In Week 1 alone, greater than $35 thousand was spent across at the very least 55 promise video games, according to Front Office Sports. Alabama composed the largest inspection to its rival, Western Kentucky, for a monstrous $1.9 thousand. WKU lost that activity 63-- 0, however they possibly hit the count on the bus trip home and most likely won't hesitate about it.In Week 2, 3 schools-- Western side Michigan, Middle Tennessee, as well as Utah State-- got payouts much bigger than NIU's $1.4 thousand. They shed through a mixed credit rating of 156-- 3, however they took home a total amount of $4.85 thousand in the process.It's usually a bargain for both crews. The little colleges receive an income, the large institutions obtain an additional home activity to milk gameday earnings. The tiny university gets to use the huge stage and get national visibility, the big one gets a dish on the timetable to start the year in a sporting activity without preseason. Thus all's well and good up until the minimal team determines to present out and also draw the upset.