Ohio State opens its 2026 college football season on Saturday at home against Ball State.
It’s not exactly a matchup that will have anyone too excited about the return of the Buckeyes, beyond the obvious happiness that the season has returned.
Still, it’s a common feature of the college football season. The biggest teams play relative minnows — some would call them cupcakes — early in the year.
They call these “buy games,” and they make the college sports world tick.
Ohio State is paying Ball State a lot of money to come play in Columbus.
What Is Ohio State Paying Ball State?
Ohio State is paying Ball State $1.9 million to play on Saturday, according to reporting from the Columbus Dispatch.
For what it’s worth, that’s the same amount the Buckeyes are paying Kent State to come to Columbus later this season.
That money comes via an official contract agreed to by both teams that lays out the agreed-upon game, often years in advance.
The largest buy-game fees usually come in the seven figures, but they don’t often get this close to $2 million.
Ohio State’s football program obviously brings in a lot of cash, and they can afford to make a payment like this.
Why Is Ohio State Paying Ball State To Play?
The Buckeyes, and big programs like them, use buy games for relative certainty.
In a college football world where early-season losses can hold a team back when it comes to postseason aspirations, it’s nice for a team to have a matchup that feels like it almost definitely will be a win.
There are no preseason games in college football in the way there are in the NFL, so it also can serve as a bit of a tune-up. Ohio State plays Texas in a week’s time, so having a potentially easier game to start things off can be a good thing.
On the flip side, it’s a huge payday for Ball State.
Smaller programs, unlike Ohio State, don’t bring in tons of cash each year. Getting a couple million extra for their program doesn’t just help the football team. It helps all the athletic programs at Ball State to survive in a changing world of college sports.
So much of college football has changed in recent years, but buy games haven’t gone anywhere. Schedules and conferences continue to shift, so there’s no guarantee they will stick around forever, but they’re certainly a regular feature of the college football calendar right now.
For Ohio State, it’ll likely be a quick day at the office when Ball State comes to town — although buy game opponents do occasionally pull off upsets while also leaving with a solid money bag, too. For Ball State, it’s a metaphorical price they have to pay on the field in order to gain off of it.
What Is Ohio State Paying Ball State? Why Buckeyes Shell Out Millions for ‘Buy Games’