.Northern Illinois stunned No. 5 Notre Dame final weekend break on a last-second basket to mark university regulation football's first significant upset of 2024. For the Huskies, it is actually a win they'll be commemorating for many years to follow. For the Battling Irish, it's a season-crusher. To shed the home opener to a small institution from a significantly poor association was actually an embarrassment for Notre Dame.Especially due to the fact that they paid out NIU $1.4 million to accomplish it.This shines an illumination on some of the longest and also most pricey heritages in university volleyball: assurance activities. They're also called "loan games," "paycheck activities," or, as I like to contact all of them, "buy weeks." A pricey (as well as unsafe) traditionFor decades, in the initial handful of weeks of the season, major college soccer companies have paid out smaller schools to follow to play all of them in their house.In Full week 1 alone, much more than $35 million was actually invested across a minimum of 55 promise video games, according to Front end Office Sports. Alabama composed the greatest check to its own challenger, Western side Kentucky, for an enormous $1.9 thousand. WKU dropped that video game 63-- 0, but they perhaps attacked the count on the bus adventure home as well as most likely won't reconsider it.In Week 2, 3 institutions-- Western Michigan, Center Tennessee, and also Utah Condition-- acquired payouts greater than NIU's $1.4 thousand. They dropped by a bundled rating of 156-- 3, however they take away a total amount of $4.85 million in the process.It's usually a good deal for each staffs. The tiny universities receive a salary, the significant colleges obtain yet another home activity to dairy gameday earnings. The tiny school comes to play on the huge phase as well as receive national visibility, the major one obtains a dish on the timetable to begin the year in a sport without any preseason. Therefore all's properly and great until the lesser group decides to reveal out as well as take the trouble.