Louisville’s cost of buy game losses leads college basketball

Feb 7, 2023 - 11:00 AM

The Louisville Cardinals are having a disastrous season in year one under head coach Kenny Payne.

However, three of the games the Cardinals dropped early in the season came with a high price tag.

According to On3, Louisville agreed to pay Bellarmine, Wright State, and Appalachian State $85,000 each in exchange for the trio traveling to face the Cards in the KFC Yum! Center.

Based on the documents obtained by On3, Louisville lost “buy games” with the greatest associated guarantees of any school in the country this season. Those three losses were all a part of the Cards’ 0-9 start to the season.

Louisville also lost a home game to Lipscomb that also came with an $85,000 price tag, bringing their lost regular-season buy game total to $340,000.

Louisville’s $340,000 total in guarantees paid passed the $310,000 that Georgia spent on lost buy games in 2021-22 and Nebraska’s $300,000 in 2019-20.

Not only did the Cards lose buy games at home, but they came with the highest price tag in college basketball history.