NIL-driven Las Vegas college basketball event nearly finalized with Alabama vs. Houston among matchups

A revolutionary one-off regular season men’s basketball event which will be held later this year in Las Vegas will be announced on Wednesday, sources told CBS Sports. Your point of sale is based on O main factor that has drastically altered college sports in the last three years: name, image and likeness compensation for players.

The games will be played at MGM Las Vegas during Thanksgiving week, under the umbrella of an event called “Players Era Festival”, which will also include live music and other attractions for fans amid the glitz of the Las Vegas Strip. In a first for college sports, the event will also include $1 million NIL payouts to eight participating schools. What’s more, the players involved will have future earning opportunities through long-term NIL contracts, sources told CBS Sports.

Alabama, Creighton, Houston, Notre Dame, Oregon, Rutgers, San Diego State and Texas A&M have committed to play in the event, sources said.

The event will be played in two four-team formats. Sources said the brackets are planned as follows: Alabama (SEC), Houston (Big 12), Notre Dame (ACC) and Rutgers (Big Ten) would be one 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 under current NCAA rules.

The opening clashes will be:

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

Houston vs. Alabama could potentially be a battle between the top five teams. Rutgers brings back its highest-rated freshman class in history, while Creighton playing Oregon means Ducks coach Dana Altman will face the school she coached for 16 years. Altman ran Creighton’s program from 1994-2010.

Creighton was the last school to join; was formally committed in early May, sources told CBS Sports. The Bluejays signed a three-year commitment to the event. Creighton was previously scheduled to play in a loaded 2024 Battle 4 Atlantis field. A source told CBS Sports that Creighton jumped at the opportunity after the initial publication of this story on May 7 when a spot was not claimed. As a result, the Bluejays will have to pay a buyout to leave the Battle 4 Atlantis MTE.

Creighton was later replaced in the Battle 4 Atlantis by another Big East team: Providence. A power conference team being picked from one of college basketball’s most prestigious MTEs speaks to the power and appeal of the Players Era Festival.

After the inaugural event in 2024, the expectation is to double the field size (minimum), sources told CBS Sports, with at least 18 teams now the target for 2025 and beyond. In addition to the eight teams registered for this year, others that have agreed to play in Las Vegas in 2025 are: Gonzaga, Michigan, St. Duke, Kansas and Virginia, which have already been involved in negotiations, have not yet formally committed.

If they choose to participate, most (if not all) of the schools playing in 2024 will join them, many of which have already signed a three-year deal, according to sources.

Event organizers are 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 tentative schedule for 2024 is to play on November 26, 27 and 29, with Thanksgiving being a day off, but this is still subject to adjustment.