The early-season college basketball event on the cutting edge of the NIL era is looking for a new media rights deal.
Players Era Festival, the multi-team event (MTE) in its second year, is reportedly “in discussions” with ESPN, Fox, Netflix, and incumbent broadcaster TNT Sports for a multiyear media rights deal beginning next season, according to Ben Portnoy in Sports Business Journal.
The event has quickly become the belle of the ball when it comes to holiday season college basketball tournaments. Players Era, which is owned and operated by EverWonder Studio, differentiated itself from other MTEs, such as the Maui Invitational, by guaranteeing participants NIL payouts. This year’s event features many of the top brands in men’s college basketball, including Kansas, Houston, Gonzaga, Michigan, Syracuse, Maryland, St. John’s, Alabama, and others. After expanding from eight teams to 18 teams in its second year, Players Era plans to nearly double the field again next season to 32 teams.
Sports Business Journal also reported that the Big 12 will take a 15% equity stake in the event. In return, the conference’s top eight finishers from the prior year will receive automatic bids into the Players Era event.
Last season, Players Era guaranteed each participating team $1 million in NIL payouts. Inclusion in the event may prove to be part of an enticing recruiting pitch for the schools involved. Each of the eight schools that participated in the first edition of the tournament last season returned for this year’s event. Some schools have reportedly already signed multiyear agreements to participate in the event each season.
This season, the tournament expanded to include a women’s event as well.
Given the caliber of schools Players Era has attracted thus far, it wouldn’t be surprising if the event garners a rather competitive bidding process among potential broadcast partners. A 32-team event creates a lot of valuable inventory during a portion of the sports calendar in which fans are accustomed to watching a lot of high-quality college basketball.
About Drew Lerner
Drew Lerner is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and an aspiring cable subscriber. He previously covered sports media for Sports Media Watch. Future beat writer for the Oasis reunion tour.