In recent years, the landscape of college basketball scheduling has experienced a dramatic shift. One of the most significant changes has come in the form of the growing influence of Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) deals. These deals have reshaped the way programs approach nonconference scheduling, especially with the evolving dynamics of multi-team events (MTEs). As these MTEs are becoming less appealing for high-major programs, a new breed of tournaments and scheduling methods are emerging, each with a focus on increasing financial opportunities for players.
Enter the Players Era Festival, a new event this past November designed to tap into this evolving market. Co-founded by Seth Berger, the Players Era Festival aims to provide college basketball programs with significant NIL opportunities, while also offering a competitive platform. The inaugural edition of the tournament in 2024 was considered a success, with eight teams—including Houston, Alabama, Creighton, Notre Dame, Oregon, Rutgers, San Diego State and Texas A&M—participating. Each team earned at least $1 million in NIL opportunities, with the added promise of more substantial payouts for continued participation in future years.
“When I talked to Seth and he told me who was coming, or who he was trying to get, I’m like, OK, those are really good teams so it’s going to be a really good tournament, and Vegas is close for us,” said Oregon coach Dana Altman. “If our guys get this money, get paid like this, man, that’s icing on the cake.”
The event’s appeal lies not only in its financial rewards but in its modernized structure.
“When you’re able to pay players and when you’re able to use the NIL for a good reason and have people come out here and [it’s] crazy competition, Hall of Fame coaches, All-American players, this is the best place to be right now,” said Texas A&M forward Henry Coleman III.
For Berger, the goal is to establish the Players Era Festival as the premier November event, comparing it to the first leg of a Triple Crown, with plans for a women’s tournament already in place later this year, and potentially even summer events if the NCAA opens up exhibition calendars.
“For everything we do, we’re completely aligned with the players,” Berger said. “As big an impact as we can have on college basketball with Players Era, that will be continuing to put money into the pockets of college basketball players.”
Despite the skepticism surrounding the viability of the new format, the Players Era Festival has already secured multiple years of funding and partnerships, with guarantees from MGM and TNT Sports ensuring its place on the college basketball calendar for years to come.
“I think it exceeded our expectations in just about every way,” Berger said after the inaugural event. “We got super lucky with just how competitive the games were. … From my perspective, in my first time as an event operator, I was really thankful all the coaches were easy to work with. [The NIL obligations] were smoother than I expected.”
San Diego State was one of the eight teams that participated last year, and all eight will be returning to this year’s Players Era Festival.
SDSU head coach Brian Dutcher felt participating in the tournament brought the best opportunities.
“It was a no-brainer for us. It was like, yes, anytime, anyplace. And the question was, you know, is the money really going to be there? But for us, the money, yeah, the money is critically important,” Dutcher said. “For us to play this talent level that we get to play and our flight from our campus — I don’t want to tell them this because they might not pay us, but I would have come for free to play this kind of competition.”
