In-season college basketball invitational tournament to offer $2 million NIL payouts

Another new innovation will be introduced to college sports in the NIL era, this time in the form of a new in-season men’s college basketball tournament that will offer up to $2 million in NIL deals to the participating teams, according to a report by Front Office Sports on Friday.

According to On3, the teams that are in talks to participate in the tournament include Alabama, Duke, Florida Atlantic, Houston, Kansas, Oregon, Rutgers, San Diego State, St. John’s, Syracuse and Virginia. The eight-team tournament dubbed “Players Era” is slated for Thanksgiving weekend and will be held at MGM Arena in Las Vegas.

What’s more, is that every team included in the tournament will be guaranteed at least $1 million in NIL dollars for participating, per On3. Programs will distribute the cash at their own will, but it must be given to the current team.

Meanwhile, the winning team will be eligible to earn another $1 million. Another tournament known as the College Basketball invitational offered NIL agreements a year ago, with the winning school receiving $25,000, the runner-up receiving 10,000 and each team semifinals loser receiving $2,500.

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