Players Era Festival

Players Era Festival
SportCollege basketball
Founded2024
FounderEverWonder Studio and Seth Berger
No. of teams8 (2024)
CountryUnited States
Venue(s)MGM Grand Garden Arena
Paradise, Nevada
Most recent
champion(s)		Oregon
Most titlesOregon (1)
Broadcaster(s)TNT, TBS, TruTV and/or Max (streaming service)
Tournament formatRound robin (2024)
Official websitePlayersEra.com

The Players Era Festival is an early-season college basketball tournament. The tournament takes place in Paradise, Nevada, with games being played at MGM Grand Garden Arena, during the week of the US holiday of Thanksgiving. A title sponsor has not been announced, but the tournament was created to give each team at least $1 million toward each team's Name, Imagine and Likeness (NIL).[1] The tournament played its edition during the 2024–25 NCAA Division I men's basketball season.[2]

In August 2024, the NCAA sent out a memo reiterating that players could not be directly compensated for participating in an MTE, even if the money was routed through a collective. EverWonder claimed that players would participate in sponsorship opportunities on behalf of the event that would allow for NIL compensation, with this compensation being described in agreements between EverWonder and the schools' NIL collectives, but not in the agreements between EverWonder and the schools themselves.[3]

The following month, a financial representative for the event informed Sportico that an announcement would be made soon for the sponsor and TV partner. The publication questioned the event's prospective profitability, as other MTEs bring in between $1–3 million, far below the potential amount needed to make the event profitable.[4]

On December 16, 2024, it was announced there will be an inaugural Players Era Women's Championship in 2025, which will take place over three days during Thanksgiving week in Las Vegas. The women's iteration will coincide with the men's tournament.[5]

Men's

2024

On October 22, 2024, it was announced that the 2024 Players Era Festival will now feature a Players Era Championship Day on the final day of the festival where a tournament champion will be crowned.[6] Each group will be ranked first through fourth, and after head-to-head record, seeding will be determined by total point differential in group games (capped at 20 points per game), then total points scored and fewest points allowed. The top seeds from each division will face off in the championship game, with the rest of the standings filling out the third, fifth and seventh-place matchups.[7]

Power Division

Impact Division

Championship Day

[8]

2025

Men's

The 2025 Men's Championship will introduce an entirely new structure for early-season tournaments, with the expanded event featuring international-style group play with championship matchups.[9]

Participating Teams:

Women's

The event features a round-robin format that ensures all teams will face one another. Then, a champion will be crowned based on head-to-head record, with a series of tiebreakers including point differential, points scored and points allowed.

Participating Teams:

References

  1. ^ "Players Era Festival Event Overview".
  2. ^ "Sources: Houston, Alabama among field for Players Era Festival". June 12, 2024.
  3. ^ "NCAA Memo Fuels Questions About Big-Bucks NIL Hoops Event". August 21, 2024.
  4. ^ "Multimillion-Dollar NIL Hoops Tourney to Finalize Plans Soon".
  5. ^ Andrews, Kendra (December 16, 2024). "South Carolina, UCLA, Duke, Texas in inaugural Players Era Women's Championship". ESPN. ESPN. Retrieved December 19, 2024.
  6. ^ "Players Era Festival Adjusts Format, Adds Championship Day on Nov. 30". GoCreighton.com. Creighton University. October 22, 2024. Retrieved October 22, 2024.
  7. ^ "Players Era Thanksgiving Festival". Players Era Thanksgiving Festival. PlayerEra.
  8. ^ "Players Era Festival: Schedule, teams, TV channels, streaming for the college basketball event". NCAA.com. NCAA. Retrieved November 28, 2024.
  9. ^ "Kansas Basketball Joins Loaded 2025 Players Era Men's Championship Field in Las Vegas". KUAthletics.com. Kansas Athletics Inc. December 19, 2024. Retrieved December 19, 2024.
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