Texas Tech changed the landscape of college softball forever by playing at South Carolina last season. The Gamecocks paid the Red Raiders a historic sum of money for the trip to Columbia.
Will this start a similar trend for high-profile matchups moving forward?
In a world where NIL money has a direct tie to wins and losses, every dollar counts. That is especially true in a lower-revenue sport like college softball— compared to football or basketball.
Texas Tech lost two out of three games to South Carolina.
The Red Raiders traveled east to South Carolina at the end of March. They played three games against the 10th-ranked Gamecocks on March 21st, 22nd and 23rd.
South Carolina won the first two games by a combined score of 6-2. Texas Tech avoided a sweep on Sunday with a 6-5 victory. It was a huge litmus test for two of the best programs in the country.
Both teams played deep into the postseason. However, it was actually the Red Raiders who advanced further than the Gamecocks as the eventual national runners-up.
The Gamecocks paid the Red Raiders a lot of money.
Result aside, it was an extremely valuable trip for the visitors. Texas Tech got paid.
“Buy games” in college football can cost anywhere from $250,000 to $1.5 million. Top FBS programs often pay large sums of money to play lower-tier FBS programs and/or FCS programs during the nonconference schedule. Financial incentive often outweighs player safety. It occasionally backfires— like when Toledo got paid by two different schools to beat Mississippi State in Starkville.
Buy games aren’t really a thing in college softball. The “bigger” schools typically pay the “smaller” schools for travel and lodging. That’s about it.
According to Maren Angus-Coombs of Softball on SI, the average three-game guarantee hovers around $2,500-$5,000 or the cost of hotel rooms. NOT both.
Texas Tech set a new standard. The Red Raiders are one of the most prominent players in the NIL space so every single dollar counts. That money can then go right back into the roster.
With that in mind, Texas Tech agreed to play at South Carolina last season because of the money. Angus-Coombs discovered a lucrative financial agreement between the two schools.
The contract was first signed in Oct. 2024. It was later amended in Feb. 2025. The Gamecocks agreed to pay $10,500 to the Red Raiders to play three games in Columbia. That is more than double the standard financial compensation package for college softball.
South Carolina ultimately received a high enough seed in the postseason to host a Super Regional. Its series win over Texas Tech probably helped to secure that bid so the money was worth it.
It will be interesting to see whether this becomes the norm in college softball or if this was a one-off occurrence. Bigger games, bigger money, bigger results?