NIL-driven Las Vegas college basketball event set with Alabama vs. Houston among marquee matchups

The Players Era Festival, a one-of-a-kind revolutionary regular-season men’s basketball event to be held in Las Vegas this November, was formally announced Wednesday. Its selling point is based on the major factor that has drastically altered college sports over the past three years: name, image and likeness compensation for players.

Alabama, Creighton, Houston, Notre Dame, Oregon, Rutgers, San Diego State and Texas A&M have all committed to play in the event for the next three seasons, sources told CBS Sports. In a college sports first, the event will also include $1 million NIL payouts for eight participating schools. Players who participate will have future earnings opportunities through long-term NIL contracts, sources said. CBS Sports extensively reported on the details of the event in early May.

The Players Era Festival will be played as two four-team formats during the week of Thanksgiving. According to sources, brackets are planned as such: Alabama (SEC), Houston (Big 12), Notre Dame (ACC) and Rutgers (Big Ten) is one 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 MTEs, per current NCAA rules (that may be subject to change in the months ahead).

The opening matchups will be:

Houston vs. Alabama
Rutgers vs. Notre Dame
Creighton vs. Oregon
Texas A&M vs. SDSU

The Houston vs. Alabama tilt could potentially be a battle between top-five teams. 

“This is an opportunity for us to play against 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 chance to compete in its first year. It will be a great way for our program to test itself.”

Said Alabama’s Nate Oats: “We are always going to support our…

Source link : https://www.cbssports.com/college-basketball/news/nil-driven-las-vegas-college-basketball-event-set-with-alabama-vs-houston-among-marquee-matchups/

Author : Matt Norlander

Publish date : 2024-06-12 16:29:24

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