.Northern Illinois stunned No. 5 Notre Dame last weekend break on a last-second basket to mark university regulation football's 1st big distress of 2024. For the Huskies, it's a gain they'll be celebrating for a long times to come. For the Fighting Irish, it's a season-crusher. To lose the home opener to a tiny college from a vastly poor association was actually a humiliation for Notre Dame.Especially due to the fact that they paid NIU $1.4 million to perform it.This radiates a light on one of the longest as well as most pricey practices in college soccer: assurance games. They are actually also contacted "amount of money activities," "salary activities," or even, as I as if to phone all of them, "purchase full weeks." A pricey (and also risky) traditionFor years, in the first couple of weeks of the period, primary university football institutions have actually paid much smaller schools to find to play all of them in their house.In Week 1 alone, much more than $35 million was actually invested all over at least 55 assurance activities, according to Front Office Sports. Alabama wrote the greatest check to its own opponent, Western side Kentucky, for a monstrous $1.9 thousand. WKU shed that activity 63-- 0, however they possibly hit the trust the bus ride home and also probably will not reconsider it.In Week 2, 3 colleges-- Western Michigan, Middle Tennessee, as well as Utah State-- received payouts greater than NIU's $1.4 million. They dropped by a combined credit rating of 156-- 3, yet they took home a total of $4.85 million in the process.It's normally a good deal for both crews. The small universities receive a paycheck, the big colleges acquire another home game to milk gameday income. The small college gets to play on the major phase and also acquire national visibility, the major one acquires a dish on the schedule to begin the year in a sporting activity without preseason. Therefore all's well and good up until the lower team determines to present out and take the trouble.