Blood Battle begins between Ohio State and Michigan

COLUMBUS, Ohio — While the Ohio State Universtiy and University of Michigan football game is a month away, the universities are united in an off-the-field competition focused on addressing a critical health care need.

The Blood Battle is designed to address the shortage of blood for patients in need.

This is the 42nd year of the competition, running from Oct. 25 to Nov. 22 with 48 blood drives across OSU’s campus area. The university is looking to defend its title as it won the competition in 2022 for the first time in five years. 

The Blood Battle kicks off at the The Ohio Union on Wednesday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. where Brutus Buckeye, along with Ohio State defensive lineman Mike Hall Jr. and Ohio State offensive lineman Avery Henry will be rallying the donors. Henry is now cancer free after receiving treatment at The James Cancer Hospital for bone cancer.

“Don’t think of it as a bag of blood but instead imagine the lives that are being saved,” said Danielle Falconer, area vice president and director of donor services at Versiti Blood Center of Ohio, in a news release. “The competition and collaboration from both universities collected more than 3,100 pints of blood in 2022 and saved more than 9,000 lives.”

Versiti Blood Center of Ohio is running the drives, and is hoping to collect at least 1,500 units of blood for patients at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center.

Participants who donate during kickoff week will receive a free Blood Battle t-shirt, a $5 Roosters giftcard and will be entered in a drawing to win four tickets to the home football match between Ohio State and Michigan State University on Nov. 11.

 Additional major blood drives include:

For a full list of drives, or to schedule an appointment, click here. Donating blood takes about an hour and donors should bring identification. To speed up the process, a health history questionnaire can be completed online during the day of the scheduled appointment.

Walk-ins are welcome and free parking vouchers are available to donors for most drives.