.Northern Illinois stunned No. 5 Notre Dame last weekend break on a last-second field goal to mark university football's very first significant distress of 2024. For the Huskies, it is actually a gain they'll be actually celebrating for a long times to find. For the Dealing with Irish, it's a season-crusher. To shed the home opener to a tiny university from a greatly inferior event was actually an awkwardness for Notre Dame.Especially considering that they paid for NIU $1.4 million to perform it.This radiates an illumination on among the longest and most expensive customs in university volleyball: promise games. They're also phoned "money games," "salary activities," or, as I as if to call them, "buy full weeks." A costly (and dangerous) traditionFor many years, in the 1st couple of full weeks of the season, primary university volleyball companies have actually paid for much smaller institutions ahead to play all of them in their house.In Full week 1 alone, much more than $35 million was actually devoted all over at least 55 guarantee video games, according to Face Workplace Sports. Alabama created the largest check to its challenger, Western Kentucky, for a massive $1.9 million. WKU lost that activity 63-- 0, however they probably reached the rely on the bus flight home and likely will not reconsider it.In Full week 2, three institutions-- Western Michigan, Middle Tennessee, as well as Utah State-- obtained payouts larger than NIU's $1.4 thousand. They dropped by a bundled rating of 156-- 3, yet they take away an overall of $4.85 thousand in the process.It's typically a deal for both crews. The small universities acquire an income, the large universities get yet another home game to dairy gameday earnings. The tiny college gets to use the large phase and also receive nationwide visibility, the big one acquires a dish on the timetable to start the year in a sporting activity with no preseason. So all's well and great until the smaller team determines to reveal out and also draw the upset.