They’re called “money games.” A smaller school agrees to play a larger school at their place for a guaranteed price. This practice also involves HBCUs.
Why money games? Simply put, these games are a necessary funding source for the smaller schools’ athletic departments. They are also, however, a double-edged sword, with lopsided scores as the end result, but an estimated six-figure paycheck for the visiting losing team as a parting gift.
This isn’t restricted to basketball — college football does the same, paying smaller schools such as HBCUs to take on big schools for big checks. Florida A&M in 2023 was paid $700,000 by the University of Miami, and Alabama A&M $525,000 for playing at Auburn.
MinnPost’s Pat Borzi wrote in his December 20 article on non-conference scheduling by the University of Minnesota and University of St. Thomas, the state’s only two D1 schools, that “payments range from $30,000 to $100,000 depending on timing and resources,” and that Minnesota paid $478,000 for “buy games” in 2022-23.
“For mid-majors like Bethune-Cookman (an HBCU), which played at Williams Arena earlier this month, buy games help pay the bills,” noted Borzi.
During her postgame comments after a 100-54 defeat at LSU December 8, Grambling State WBB Coach Courtney Simmons told reporters, “We play these games to get the money so we can survive. … That is it. That is all.
“I would rather not ever play LSU again, but they send us good money to come here and take a loss,” continued Simmons, who pointed out that playing such games goes a long way for the Tigers’ athletic budget.
USA Today reported that among SWAC schools, Grambling State athletics generated $11.3 million in total revenue, Southern $18.1 million, Alabama State $14.5 million, Alabama A&M $14 million, Texas Southern $13.3, Florida A&M $13.1, and Jackson State $12.8.
Simmons later told Rob Knox of The Next, “I don’t want to ever feel like because we’re at an HBCU we should be grateful to be in the presence of a Power Four school.”
The MSR looked at the WBB non-conference schedule of two HBCU conferences and their combined W-L records versus larger PWI schools: SWAC (2-69) and MEAC (5-38) for a total of 7 wins and 107 losses.
We talked to Prairie View A&M Head Coach Sandy Pugh after her Panthers’ 96-57 defeat to the Gophers December 20 in Minneapolis. “We’re not going to see anybody in our league that size, and nobody in our league is going to shoot that basketball the way those guys shot it,” she observed.
Pugh admitted that it also was a money game. Prairie View athletics generated $14.3 million. U-M Athletics in fiscal year 2022 paid out nearly a half million dollars (MBB) and over $90,000 (WBB) in guaranteed pay to visiting schools, including travel and meal expenses and per diems.
“In this day and age, it’s a money game,” admitted Pugh.
Pugh said the longstanding financial inequities between schools like hers and PWIs (predominantly white institutions) is a reality in today’s college sport. She offered this advice: “Make a financial donation,” she advised. “If every professional Black person would donate $100 to their favorite HBCU, that would go a long way. Every little bit counts.”
Charles Hallman welcomes reader comments to challman@spokesman-recorder.com.