College football is back for Week 5, and we’re excited for some high-stakes action to come through the weekend. Leaderboards will be getting a reshuffle, and we’re all in for it. But Pat McAfee, before kickoff for Week 5, is already losing a whopping $850,000 from his bank account. Who knew his brainchild for College GameDay would turn out to be so heavy on his pockets?

There’s one thing about the season that’s continued to grow in popularity ever since it began. That is Pat McAfee’s Kicking Contest, which has become a highlight on College GameDay’s road trips. Fans get one chance to bag a huge sum by sending the football flying through the posts set at 33 yards. This season, McAfee has been dealt three tough cards consecutively. Students from Oklahoma, Tennessee have already helped $550,000 to fly out of McAfee’s pocket. In today’s Whiteout clash, a Penn State student duo added $300,000 to that growing number.

The PSU student who was picked from the Kicking Contest raffle was William. William is a finance major, and knew that a lot of money was going to be at stake. “Money, decision-wise, I suck at this,” McAfee told William. The latter, however, came prepared with a professional. That was Carson, who is a soccer player. McAfee raised the stakes because of the unique situation, splitting $300,000 between the two guys. Carson had never kicked a football before this. But William knew what he brought to the table, because Carson sent that ball flying 33 yards and through the posts.

William and Carson walked away with that huge paycheck, while Pat McAfee now loses a total of $850,000 to the contest. “It’s been an expensive year,” McAfee admitted in the tweet. College GameDay still has a couple of trips to be made in the season. In just 5 weeks, the analyst is close to losing a million dollars to a segment that was his idea. But it’s all in the spirit of football. McAfee also ropes in charities in this contest by allotting part of the total prize money for these groups.

The analyst can only hope that the man taking the shot in the next game misses the mark. That has only happened twice this season, thankfully. Or else, McAfee was looking at a loss of $1.1 million alone because of those two attempts ($600K at Georgia-Tennessee, $500K at Miami-Florida). But Pat McAfee is a man of his word, who dutifully pays the sum from his own pocket. However, in his tendency to spice things up during the contest, he also brings in an unsuspecting Kirk Herbstreit into the chaotic fun.

Kirk Herbstreit outed Pat McAfee’s sly trick

It takes only a few seconds for the student to kick the football, cross the goal post, and haul in all that money from Pat McAfee. It takes guts for someone to continue to put themselves through that. Kirk Herbstreit is reserved for placement duty in this segment, as he holds the ball in position for the fan to make the kick. He’s usually busy thinking ‘Don’t kick my hand,’ he said in a recent SI Media podcast episode. Sometimes, Pat McAfee forces Herbstreit to share his financial woes.

“I don’t even know he’s doing this. He’s like, ‘You know what? And, Kirk’s going to throw in $200,000 over here too,” Herbstreit told host Jimmy Traina. He later enacted his reaction to that statement, which came out of the blue. “That is not discussed beforehand?” Traina asked. “No! Never! He just does that,” Kirk Herbstreit said animatedly. The analyst then confirmed that he’s given away $100,000 in one of these contests last season.

It’s all in the spirit of the sport and some goodwill. But Pat McAfee’s accounts are not having fun anymore in these contests. He’s already lost $850,000 to them and knows that it’s been heavy on the bank. But that doesn’t stop him from hosting the segment with the utmost energy, earning him more love from fans. McAfee sure knows how to make the best of the day for these fans, even if it means sacrificing his finances.