MIAMI VALLEY, Ohio (WKEF) – The big game is coming up on Monday and some big spending has already taken place, especially when it comes to things like advertising, NIL deals, and merchandise.

“History is telling us that the one place where advertisers are always interested in putting their marketing dollars is live sports,” says Dr. Andrew Wonders, Sports Business Management Professor at Cedarville University. “Future decisions about where marketing dollars will be spent will be based on how this year goes.”

Wonders says that live sports advertising is an industry of its own, this is no exception for the upcoming CFB National Championship Game between Ohio State and Notre Dame.

But another industry that also stands to make big gains due to the game is merchandising.

Ohio State fans spend an average of $17 million every year on merchandise and Wonders says that a majority of the profits go towards local retailers.

“The local retailers could see a shift,” Wonders continues. “I mean, anytime a team wins a championship, there’s always gear that’s associated with winning the championship. How much of that actually gets back to the athletic departments, it’s probably not a huge amount, frankly.”

Dr. Kevin Willardsen, Economics Professor at Wright State University, says that companies are not only willing to invest millions in ads, but also players.

For 2024, spending on NIL deals reached an astounding $1.67 billion.

With the industry growing dramatically from year-to-year, Willardsen says he wouldn’t be surprised if some of our local college athletes make some lucrative deals of their own in the near future.

Willardsen says, “If they’re skilled enough players and they can draw the attention, I would absolutely expect the players, as a whole, to benefit the most from all of this.”

The National Championship Game is set for kickoff at 7:30PM on Monday, which gives you plenty of time to scoop-and-score some OSU merch of your own before time runs out.