The Players Era Festival made history last week, not only by debuting its eight-team college basketball tournament in Las Vegas, but also by fulfilling its ambitious financial commitments.
The event, owned by RedBird IMI’s EverWonder Studio, announced last week that $8 million had been allocated to the name, image, and likeness collectives of the eight participating schools—proving that “the money is in the bag.”
The week-long celebration of college basketball took place over Thanksgiving week. Participants included elite players, teams, and coaches utilizing an innovative format that was designed to encourage early-season tournament competition prior to the start of conference play. The event also highlighted opportunities for financial education programs and several on-call NIL opportunities for players.
“We are always going to support our student-athletes at the highest levels and do everything we can to help them succeed,” said Nate Oats, head basketball coach at the University of Alabama.
“The Players Era Festival aligns with those objectives. In addition to playing quality opponents in an NCAA tournament-like atmosphere, the trip should provide our players with access to NIL opportunities.”
Each collective received $1 million from the event which will go directly to the athletes, according to Seth Berger, CEO of Players Era. He emphasized the event’s compliance with NCAA NIL regulations.
“All of the student-athletes that were part of the Players Era Festival met NIL quid pro quo obligations to our sponsors, and $1 million has been paid to each program’s collective for the value and management of these NIL activities,” Berger said. “All of these activities were fully documented and are available to the NCAA to review.”
EverWonder CEO Ian Orefice confirmed with Sportico that the $8 million came entirely from revenue directly generated by the event. A collective operator, speaking anonymously, corroborated this, confirming last week that the funds were being processed.
The inaugural tournament featured Alabama, Houston, Rutgers, Oregon, Texas A&M, Creighton, San Diego State, and Notre Dame. Notably, the latter four teams navigated out of prior tournament commitments to prioritize participation.
Creighton Head Coach Greg McDermott praised the event’s innovative approach earlier this year.
“I spend a lot of time raising money for NIL, and if I have an opportunity to help in that matter where it doesn’t involve knocking on the same doors of boosters that already support our program, I will,” McDermott said.
Skepticism surrounded the Players Era’s ability to meet its bold financial promises. Critics, including Rick Giles, president of tournament operator The Gazelle Group, argued early on that the numbers didn’t add up. Neutral-site men’s college basketball tournaments typically generate only a few million dollars, far less than what Players Era committed to paying in NIL expenditures. However, the event’s success silenced doubters and demonstrated the potential for NIL initiatives to redefine the college sports landscape.
Oregon defeated No. 9 Alabama, 83-81, on Saturday night of the tournament at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, taking home the title as champions of the inaugural Players Era Festival.
The Players Era plans to expand next year’s tournament to an 18-team field. Next season’s field will include Baylor, Iowa State, Gonzaga, Michigan, St. John’s, Syracuse, and Saint Joseph’s, with room for three more teams that have yet to be determined.
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