The Players Era Festival, a Groundbreaking, one-of-a-kind regular-season men’s basketball event to be held in Las Vegas this November, was formally announced Wednesday. Their main marketing/sales pitch is based on a facet of the college sports landscape that has changed the NCAA environment over the past three years: compensation for player name, image and likeness.
AlabamaCreighton, houston, Our lady, Oregon, rutgers, San Diego State and Texas A&M All have committed to playing in the event, with seven of those eight schools signed up for the next three seasons, sources told CBS Sports. (Oregon previously committed to the 2025 Maui Invitational.) For the first time in college sports, the Players Era Festival will also include $1 million NIL payments for all participating schools. The players will have future earning opportunities through long-term NIL contracts, sources said. Details of the event were widely reported by CBS Sports. beginnings of May.
The Players Era Festival will be played in two four-team formats during Thanksgiving week. According to sources, the groups are planned as follows: Alabama (SEC), Houston (Big 12), Notre Dame (ACC) and Rutgers (Big Ten) is a multi-team event; Creighton (Big East), Oregon (Big Ten), San Diego State (Mountain West) and Texas A&M (SEC), the other. Teams from the same conference cannot play each other in MTE, per current NCAA rules.
All teams will be guaranteed to play three games. After two games in a four-team bracket, there will be independent games at neutral sites, including a championship game between teams that finished 2-0 in their respective brackets.
The opening matches will be:
Houston vs. Alabama
Rutgers vs. Notre Dame
Creighton vs. Oregon
Texas A&M vs. SDSU
The fight between Houston and Alabama could potentially be a battle between the top five teams.
“This is an opportunity for us to play some of the best teams in the country early in the season,” Houston coach Kelvin Sampson said in a statement. “The Players Era Festival has great teams, great coaches and great players, and we appreciate the opportunity to compete in its first year. It will be a great way for our program to be put to the test.”
Alabama’s Nate Oats said, “We will always support our student-athletes at the highest levels and do everything we can to help them succeed. The Players Era Festival aligns with those goals. In addition to playing against quality opponents in a tournament from the NCAA, “As an atmosphere, the trip should provide our players with access to NIL opportunities. “We look forward to being part of the inaugural class of participants.”
As for others in the 2024 field, Rutgers brings in its highest-rated freshman class ever, while Creighton plays Oregon, meaning Ducks coach Dana Altman will face the school again who trained for 16 years. Altman led Creighton’s program from 1994 to 2010. The two teams met in March in an epic double-overtime second-round matchup.
A streaming partner is expected to be finalized in the next month, with the likely destination being a streaming service, sources said.
“The broader initiative will expand to add future events with the goal of continuing to grow the game of college basketball and create a focus on the sport year-round,” according to the event’s press release. “This will include additional content opportunities, including women’s basketball events, off-season events, non-fiction content and merchandising opportunities.”
After the inaugural tournament in 2024, the expectation is to more than double the size of the field (at a minimum), with at least 18 teams now targeted for 2025 and beyond. In addition to the eight teams on board for this year, others that have agreed to play in Las Vegas for 2025 are: Gonzaga, Michigan, St. John’s, Syracuse and Saint Joe’s. Duke, Kansas and Virginia, all of which have previously been involved in talks, have yet to formally commit.
Organizers have committed to a five-year plan in Las Vegas in an attempt to make the Players Era Festival November’s premier college basketball multi-team event.
“College athletics is undergoing monumental change, and the Players Era Festival is planting a flag in this new frontier with a first-of-its-kind, game-changing event to create a more equitable model for college basketball.” EverWonder Studio CEO Ian Orefice said. Orefice is one of the central figures who organized the event. “Everything about the Festival is completely innovative, from the format to the NIL opportunities for players and the competition that will make this a can’t-miss event for college basketball fans. With an impressive lineup for this inaugural event and an even most incredible field lined up for next season, the Players Era Festival will help usher in a new era for college sports.”
Organizers have been in negotiations with MGM Resorts International to hold future games at any or all of its three main venues: T-Mobile Arena, MGM Grand Garden Arena and Michelob ULTRA Arena. The 2024 version will be split between the MGM Grand Garden Arena and the T-Mobile Arena, or all at the MGM Grand. The tentative schedule for 2024 is to play games on Nov. 26, 27 and 29, with Thanksgiving Day being a day off, but that is still subject to adjustment. Starting in 2025, the expectation is to create “international-style group games with championship matchups.”
That would mean playing in the group stage (as seen in the FIBA and World Cup) before moving on to the single-elimination group.
The suggested format is an unprecedented arrangement for a collegiate sporting event, as is the very nature of the Players Era Festival. Questions are raised about its long-term viability due to the amount of money involved that will be needed to achieve it, but if the Players Era Festival proves successful and financially solvent, the event will change the fundamental nature of college basketball programming in the first few weeks. of the regular season.