Players Era tourney, which includes KU and K-State, set for November in Las Vegas
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Players Era 8 will feature KU, Houston and West Virginia from the Big 12 plus other teams.
- Players Era 16 will feature K-State, Baylor, Iowa State, TCU Texas Tech & 11 other teams.
- Organizers said the average payout exceeds $1M/team & KU is expected to be paid the most.
The Kansas Jayhawks basketball team will be joined by fellow Big 12 squads Houston and West Virginia in an eight-team Players Era bracketed tournament the week of Nov. 16 in Las Vegas.
Competing in what will be called the Players Era 8, KU will be included in a bracketed field that includes Houston, West Virginia, Florida, Auburn, Notre Dame, Rutgers and UNLV.
A separate 16-team bracketed tourney called the Players Era 16 will feature Kansas State, Baylor, Iowa State, Alabama, Creighton, Gonzaga, Louisville, Maryland, Miami, Michigan, Oregon, San Diego State, St. John’s, TCU, Texas Tech and Tennessee.
The Players Era 16 event will be held the week of Thanksgiving.
Specific matchups, venues in Vegas, the overall schedule and ticket information will be announced later this month, CBSsports.com and ESPN.com reported. A women’s Players Era tourney will also be held, with details set for a later date.
ESPN will broadcast the men’s event.
”College basketball is the hottest and one of the fastest-growing sports properties in the country,” Players Era CEO Seth Berger said in a statement released by ESPN.com. “The players have never been better, and record ratings for early season college basketball reflect that.
“Led by top programs from multiple conferences across the sport, the teams in our field are stronger than ever. We can’t wait to bring March to November with the number one college basketball network in the world, ESPN.”
The Big 12 has eight of the 24 teams following a business venture that Players Era officials and Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark agreed to last year and extended to 2030.
KU a year ago defeated Notre Dame, Syracuse and Tennessee at the Players Era tourney in Vegas, which is set up to support players NIL at participating schools. KU, which according to meet organizers was one of 18 teams to earn $1 million for playing in last year’s tourney, also received $300,000 of NIL money for placing third.
For 2026, Players Era will pay some schools more than others to participate in the NIL event, CBSsports.com reported.
The site idicated KU would be paid the most of all of the participating schools but did not include a figure. The average payout for all 24 schools will be more than $1 million, organizers told CBS.
Michigan, which won last year’s tournament, earned $1 million extra in NIL compensation, while Gonzaga earned $500,000 for its second-place finish.
“With the NIL opportunities, the kids actually have to perform activations ,marketing services, social media postings, and so we make sure that each kid, each athlete is meeting fair-market value for that,” Seth Berger, CEO of the Player’s Era tourney, told media last November in Las Vegas. “And again, it’s in excess of a million dollars on average per team.”
