Tag: Players Era Festival

Notre Dame no longer will participate in Rady Children’s Invitational

Make your plans for Vegas instead of San Diego.

When it was announced that Notre Dame would compete in a NIL-type tournament in Las Vegas this season, one thing might have been forgotten. Before the start of the past season, the Irish agreed to take part in the 2024 Rady Children’s Invitational in San Diego. But that won’t be the case any longer.

With the events conflicting with each other and the money involved with the Players Era Festival, the San Diego tournament officially will not feature the Irish. They, along with Arkansas, reportedly have opted out of their obligation, which involved a $200,000 buyout provision. They have been replaced by Ole Miss and Irish ACC rival NC State. Purdue and BYU will remain part of the invitational.

The writing for this was on the wall the moment the Players Era Festival was announced. No team in the NIL era is going to turn down an opportunity to financially benefit its players. Such is the new reality of college sports.

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What eight teams are in the Players Era basketball tournament?

Rutgers basketball to participate in unique NIL festival.

Rutgers basketball will be joined by seven other teams in the Players Era Festival, a new college basketball holiday tournament that will be driven by Name, Image and Likeness (NIL).

The Players Era Festival is a first-of-its-kind tournament where players will be paid to participate. Rather than being paid to play, the players on the rosters in the tournament will be paid for certain appearances related to the tournament.

The tournament is scheduled for Thanksgiving weekend in Las Vegas. Per a report from CBSSports, the tournament will feature Alabama, Creighton, Houston, Notre Dame, Oregon, Rutgers, San Diego State and Texas A&M.

According to the reporting from CBSSports:

“The tournament would be unique in that the NIL collective of each participating school would be paid $1 million. Additional significant NIL opportunities (believed to be in the neighborhood of another $1 million) would be awarded exclusively to the winner or winners of the event, depending on the final bracket format(s). The money would then be distributed to athletes by the collectives.”

The only hiccup for the tournament is how the field will be established. NCAA rules say that teams from the same conference can’t play each other in a tournament. This means that Rutgers and (new Big Ten member) Oregon can’t be in the same field. The same goes for SEC members Alabama and Texas A&M.

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Potentially, this means the festival is likely to run two separate fields or pods for the tournament.

Alabama Basketball to compete in Players Era Festival Tournament during 2024-2025 season

The Alabama men’s basketball team will be traveling to Las Vegas for a first-of-its kind tournament!

According to CBS Sports senior writer and analyst Matt Norlander, the Alabama Crimson Tide is one of several teams that are set to participate in the Players Era Festival during the 2024-2025 season. The event will take place in Las Vegas, Nevada during the week of Thanksgiving.

The seven other teams that have been confirmed to be participating in the tournament are San Diego State, Houston, Notre Dame Fighting Irish, Oregon Ducks, Texas A&M Aggies, and Rutgers Scarlet Knights.

Alabama is ranked as the No. 1 team in On3’s way-too-early Top-25 rankings. The Crimson Tide are expected to bring in four signees as well as four transfers for next season. In addition, Nate Oats’ squad could see as many as five players return from last year’s Final Four team. This should be a good tournament for the Crimson Tide to boost their resume and strenthen their confidence heading into conference play.

Roll Tide Wire will continue to follow the latest regarding the Alabama men’s basketball program.

Notre Dame reportedly involved in NIL-type tournament in Las Vegas

What’s happening in Vegas won’t stay in Vegas this time.

Like it or not, NIL is a significant part of the college sports landscape now, and it’s not going away. So the time has come to incorporate NIL into actual competition. Notre Dame’s men’s basketball team reportedly will have the opportunity to do just that.

According to a source, the Irish are one of eight teams that will take part in the inaugural Players Era Festival this November in Las Vegas. Each team will earn a NIL payout of $1 million simply for participating, and additional money will go to the players on the team that wins the tournament. Long-term NIL opportunities also will be there for the participating players.

While the NCAA still disallows direct pay-for-play, the players’ money will come after completing activities away from the game while they’re in Las Vegas. So any talk that this is unethical if not illegal can be squashed.

This is the way of the future, and the Irish are getting in on the ground floor.

Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Geoffrey on Twitter: @gfclark89