Fire hydrants were turned on and money was pouring through the streets of college sports. The men’s college basketball team saw the success of the first 2023 NBA in-season tournament and decided to host one of its own.
Men’s college basketball will host its first in-season tournament in the fall of 2024, called player era. It will be held in Las Vegas. According to Front Office Sports, the first event will feature eight teams before expanding to 14 teams in 2025. , especially with Cooper Flagg arriving next season.
Just like the NBA, player days will also offer financial rewards. All participating teams will receive $1 million in NIL funding. The winner will also receive an additional $1 million. As long as every dollar belongs to the players, the project can decide how to allocate the funds.
It’s a pity that the bonus is thinly veiled as NIL. The NCAA recently lost an antitrust lawsuit; Currently prohibited Execution of any NIL rules is prohibited. NCAA President Charlie Baker discusses the subdivisions in which schools can choose to invest money Enter a trust For athletes.
Technically, this new in-season tournament will compensate players through the NIL, however, the court cases and this new tournament prove that college sports are quickly moving toward direct compensation for athletes.
The availability of cash prizes in college basketball tournaments is by far the biggest sign that a new world or college sports has arrived. The ocean liner couldn’t turn around. Big money is the way of the future.
Older members of Congress can whine, and Baker and the NCAA can bite their nails while their power is taken away. These players make a difference. They travel on the weekends, spend hours a week honing their skills, and perform live at paid events. The fact that college basketball is mimicking the NBA’s idea of having extra tournaments proves that players are as much employees as coaches.
There will be some difficulties in this new world. Sustaining a non-revenue-generating sports program requires careful consideration. Some of them may not survive. Maybe schools shouldn’t spend so much money on facilities and coaching for revenue-generating sports to try to avoid paying athletes, but that’s neither here nor there.
College sports will continue to dynamically learn how to prevent young men in uniform from being burned by big business while trying to preserve as many scholarship sports as possible. Some are paid much longer than players in college athletic departments and conference offices, and they are capable professionals. These are the people who will eventually find the best way to get players what they have long deserved.
The answer likely involves better bankroll management, since the money never leaves the player’s hands. The Players Era proves that we are in the Players Era of college sports.
