The fire hydrant has been destroyed and money is flowing through the streets of college sports. Men’s college basketball saw the success of the inaugural 2023 NBA In-Season Tournament and decided to launch one.
Men’s college basketball will host its first tournament of the season in fall 2024, titled Era of Gamers. It will be held in Las Vegas. According to Front Office Sports, the first will have eight teams, then expand to 14 in 2025. Duke is rumored to have been invited because any men’s CBB event is better with this polarizing brand, especially with Cooper Flagg joining the team. next season. .
Just like the NBA, Players Era will also offer financial reward. All participating teams will receive $1 million in zero money. The winner will also receive an additional $1 million. Programs will be allowed to use their own discretion in how the money is distributed, as long as every dollar goes back to the players.
It’s a shame that the prize money has to be barely covered by the veil of NIL. The NCAA recently lost an antitrust lawsuit and is currently banned to apply one of its NIL rules. NCAA President Charlie Baker discussed the possibility of schools opting for a subdivision in which the money is invested. in a trust for athletes.
Technically, this new season tournament will compensate players via NIL. However, the lawsuit and this new tournament prove that college sports is quickly moving toward direct compensation for athletes.
Having a cash prize in a college basketball tournament is the biggest sign that the new world or college athletics is here. It is not possible to return this liner. Money is the way of the future.
Older members of Congress can complain and Baker and the NCAA can bite their nails while his power is taken away. These players work. They spend weekends traveling on business, hours during the week perfecting their games, and performing live at ticketed events. The fact that college basketball is mimicking the NBA’s idea for an additional tournament is proof that the players are employees as much as the coaches.
There are going to be difficulties in this new world. Maintaining non-revenue generating sports programs will require a lot of thought. Some of them might not survive. Maybe schools shouldn’t have spent so much money on facilities and coaches in revenue-generating sports to avoid paying players, but that’s neither here nor there.
College athletics will continue to learn on the job how to keep young adults in uniform from getting burned by big business while trying to keep as many college sports available as possible. There are people who have been paid far longer than players in college athletic departments and conference front offices who are competent professionals. These people will eventually find the best way for players to get what they have long deserved.
The answer will most likely be better money management, because money never leaves the players’ hands. The Players Era is proof that we truly are in the Players Era of college sports.
