With name, image, and likeness currently altering the landscape of college sports, it seems that each week brings a news item that we haven’t experienced before, whether it be in basketball or football.
The latest news that came out this week is that a new in-season tournament could be coming to college basketball, which will potentially offer up to $2 million in NIL deals to participating teams. The first news of this in-season tournament was reported by Front Office Sports.
According to On3, the Oregon Ducks are one of the teams who have been in talks of participating in this tournament, along with big-name schools like Alabama, Duke, Kansas, Syracuse, and Virginia, among others.
The tournament is reportedly going to be held in Las Vegas at MGM Arena over Thanksgiving weekend, starting in 2024.
A source told On3 that every team in the tournament is guaranteed at least $1 million in NIL dollars for participating. The money will either be funneled to participating school’s NIL collective, boosters or a school’s NIL entity. Programs will distribute the cash at their own will. The only caveat is dollars must go to the current team.
There are still a lot of details to sort out over the coming months, but you have to think that it would be a nice recruiting chip for Dana Altman and his team to be able to tell prospective recruits or transfer portal players that they have a chance for a big pay-day by joining the Ducks going into the 2024 season.
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