NIL-driven Players Era Festival sets schedule, TV partners: Alabama vs. Houston is marquee game in Las Vegas

The Players Era Festival, a one-of-a-kind revolutionary regular-season men’s basketball event to be held in Las Vegas this November, has finalized its venue, game dates, broadcast partner, matchups and tipoff times, sources told CBS Sports. 

The event, which was formally announced in June, will be played at MGM Grand Garden Arena on Nov. 26, 27 and 30 — the Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday of Thanksgiving week. Most of the games will broadcast via Warner Bros. Discovery’s channels (TNT/TBS/truTV); all games will be available via streaming on Max, sources said. An official announcement from WBD Sports is expected early next week.

Alabama, Creighton, Houston, Notre Dame, Oregon, Rutgers, San Diego State and Texas A&M have all committed to play in the event, with seven of those eight schools signed on for the next three seasons, sources told CBS Sports. (Oregon previously committed to the 2025 Maui Invitational.) In a college sports first, the Players Era Festival has also marketed itself with the allure of $1 million NIL payouts for all participating schools. Players will have future earnings opportunities through long-term NIL contracts, sources said. CBS Sports extensively reported on the details of the event in early May.

“The broader initiative will expand to add future events with the goal of continuing to grow the game of college basketball and create a year-round focus on the sport,” according to the event’s press release in June. “This will include additional content opportunities, including women’s basketball events, offseason events, nonfiction content and merchandising opportunities.”

There’s been lingering skepticism around college athletics over whether the event would be NCAA-compliant.

The multi-team event’s primary marketing/selling point is based on the one facet of the college sports landscape that has drastically changed the NCAA environment over the past three years: name, image and likeness compensation for players. The formalities of how players will be paid (through off-court commitments) will have to be carefully navigated to clear ever-evolving NCAA guidelines, but multiple sources have maintained that the event will be in compliance, particularly after the NCAA reiterated its NIL policies to independent tournament organizers this summer. 

The Players Era Festival will be played as two four-team formats during the week of Thanksgiving. According to sources, pairings are planned as such: Alabama (SEC), Houston (Big 12), Notre Dame (ACC) and Rutgers (Big Ten) is one multi-team 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, per current NCAA rules. 

2024 Players Era Festival schedule 

All times ET

Tuesday, Nov. 26

• San Diego State vs. Creighton, 2 p.m.
• Texas A&M vs. Oregon, 4:30 p.m.
• Alabama vs. Houston, 8 p.m.
• Notre Dame vs. Rutgers, 10:30 p.m.

Wednesday, Nov. 27

• San Diego State vs. Oregon, 4 p.m.
• Creighton vs. Texas A&M, 6:30 p.m.
• Alabama vs. Rutgers, 10 p.m.
• Houston vs. Notre Dame, 12:30 a.m.

Saturday, Nov. 30

• Alabama vs. Notre Dame, 1 p.m.
• Houston vs. Rutgers, 3:30 p.m.
• Texas A&M vs. San Diego State, 7 p.m.
• Oregon vs. Creighton, 9:30 p.m.

The Houston vs. Alabama tilt on Nov. 26 could potentially be a battle between top-five teams.

“This is an opportunity for us to play against some of the best teams in the country early in the season,” Houston coach Kelvin Sampson said in a statement. “The Players Era Festival has great teams, great coaches and great players, and we appreciate the chance to compete in its first year. It will be a great way for our program to test itself.”

Said Alabama’s Nate Oats: “We are always going to support our student-athletes at the highest levels and do everything we can to help them succeed. 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. We’re looking forward to being part of the inaugural class of participants.”

As for others in the 2024 field, Rutgers brings in the highest-rated freshman class in school history, while Creighton playing Oregon means Ducks coach Dana Altman will again face the school he coached for 16 years. Altman ran Creighton’s program from 1994-2010. The two teams met in March in the second round of the NCAA Tournament with the Bluejays defeating the Ducks 86-73 in a double-overtime thriller.

After the inaugural tournament in 2024, the expectation is to more-than-double the size of the field (minimally), with at least 18 teams now the target for 2025 and beyond. In addition to the eight teams on board for this year, others that have agreed to play in Las Vegas for 2025 are Gonzaga, Michigan, St. John’s, Syracuse and Saint Joe’s.

Organizers have committed to a five-year plan in Las Vegas in an attempt to make the Players Era Festival the premier November college basketball multi-team event.

“College athletics is experiencing a monumental shift, and the Players Era Festival is planting a flag on this new frontier with a first-of-its-kind event that will be a game-changer for creating a more equitable model for college basketball,” EverWonder Studio CEO Ian Orefice said. Orefice is one of the central figures who assembled the event. “Everything about the Festival is entirely groundbreaking, from the format to the NIL opportunities for players, and the competition that will make this a must-see event for college basketball fans. With an impressive lineup for this inaugural event, and an even more incredible field lined up for next season, the Players Era Festival will help usher in a new era for college sports.”

Organizers have been in negotiations with MGM Resorts International to hold future games at any or all of its three major venues: T-Mobile Arena, MGM Grand Garden Arena and Michelob ULTRA Arena. Beginning in 2025, the expectation is to create “international-style group play with championship matchups.” 

That would mean group-stage play (as seen in FIBA and World Cup competition) before moving on to single-elimination bracket play.

The suggested format is an unprecedented arrangement for a college sports event, as is the very nature of the Players Era Festival. Questions loom about its long-term viability due to the amount of money involved it will take to pull it off, but if the Players Era Festival proves to be successful and financially solvent, the event will change the fundamental nature of college basketball scheduling in the early weeks of the regular season.