Following the recent ruling that allows college athletes to profit from their name, image, and likeness, a new college basketball tournament is set to provide players with the opportunity to earn money. According to CBS Sports, Las Vegas will host an eight-team Thanksgiving weekend tournament featuring programs from the NCAA’s top conferences. Each participating program will receive $1 million to distribute among its players. Schools such as Alabama, Houston, Notre Dame, Oregon, Rutgers, San Diego State, and Texas A&M are expected to participate in the tournament.
The tournament organizers known as the Players Era Festival have assured universities that the event will operate within NCAA guidelines. Players involved in the tournament would be required to engage in off-court activities to earn sponsorship money. Many schools have established collectives to raise funds on behalf of their athletes. This has led athletes to increasingly prioritize monetization when selecting schools. With the NCAA now permitting players to transfer once without sitting out a season and engage in sponsorship deals, there has been a rise in player transfers and NIL deals specifically for basketball and football players have reportedly reached millions of dollars. The NCAA’s decision signified a major shift in the organization’s stance on amateurism which had previously been strictly enforced.
