The Gamers Period Competition, a one-of-a-kind revolutionary regular-season males’s basketball occasion to be held in Las Vegas this November, has finalized its venue, sport dates, broadcast associate, matchups and tipoff instances, sources informed CBS Sports activities.
The occasion, which was formally introduced in June, shall be performed at MGM Grand Backyard Area on Nov. 26, 27 and 30 — the Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday of Thanksgiving week. A lot of the video games will broadcast by way of Warner Bros. Discovery’s channels (TNT/TBS/truTV); all video games shall be out there by way of streaming on Max, sources mentioned. An official announcement from WBD Sports activities is predicted early subsequent week.
Alabama, Creighton, Houston, Notre Dame, Oregon, Rutgers, San Diego State and Texas A&M have all dedicated to play within the occasion, with seven of these eight faculties signed on for the following three seasons, sources informed CBS Sports activities. (Oregon beforehand dedicated to the 2025 Maui Invitational.) In a university sports activities first, the Gamers Period Competition has additionally marketed itself with the attract of $1 million NIL payouts for all collaborating faculties. Gamers may have future earnings alternatives by way of long-term NIL contracts, sources mentioned. CBS Sports activities extensively reported on the main points of the occasion in early Could.
“The broader initiative will broaden so as to add future occasions with the objective of continuous to develop the sport of school basketball and create a year-round deal with the game,” in line with the occasion’s press launch in June. “This may embody further content material alternatives, together with ladies’s basketball occasions, offseason occasions, nonfiction content material and merchandising alternatives.”
There’s been lingering skepticism round faculty athletics over whether or not the occasion could be NCAA-compliant.
The multi-team occasion’s main advertising and marketing/promoting level relies on the one side of the school sports activities panorama that has drastically modified the NCAA setting over the previous three years: identify, picture and likeness compensation for gamers. The formalities of how gamers shall be paid (by way of off-court commitments) should be rigorously navigated to clear ever-evolving NCAA pointers, however a number of sources have maintained that the occasion shall be in compliance, notably after the NCAA reiterated its NIL insurance policies to impartial match organizers this summer time.
The Gamers Period Competition shall be performed as two four-team codecs in the course of the week of Thanksgiving. In line with sources, pairings are deliberate as such: Alabama (SEC), Houston (Huge 12), Notre Dame (ACC) and Rutgers (Huge Ten) is one multi-team occasion; Creighton (Huge East), Oregon (Huge Ten), San Diego State (Mountain West) and Texas A&M (SEC) the opposite. Groups from the identical convention can not play one another in MTEs, per present NCAA guidelines.
2024 Gamers Period Competition schedule
All instances ET
Tuesday, Nov. 26
• San Diego State vs. Creighton, 2 p.m.
• Texas A&M vs. Oregon, 4:30 p.m.
• Alabama vs. Houston, 8 p.m.
• Notre Dame vs. Rutgers, 10:30 p.m.
Wednesday, Nov. 27
• San Diego State vs. Oregon, 4 p.m.
• Creighton vs. Texas A&M, 6:30 p.m.
• Alabama vs. Rutgers, 10 p.m.
• Houston vs. Notre Dame, 12:30 a.m.
Saturday, Nov. 30
• Alabama vs. Notre Dame, 1 p.m.
• Houston vs. Rutgers, 3:30 p.m.
• Texas A&M vs. San Diego State, 7 p.m.
• Oregon vs. Creighton, 9:30 p.m.
The Houston vs. Alabama tilt on Nov. 26 might probably be a battle between top-five groups.
“This is a chance for us to play towards among the finest groups within the nation early within the season,” Houston coach Kelvin Sampson mentioned in an announcement. “The Gamers Period Competition has nice groups, nice coaches and nice gamers, and we admire the possibility to compete in its first 12 months. It will likely be a good way for our program to check itself.”
Mentioned Alabama’s Nate Oats: “We’re at all times going to help our student-athletes on the highest ranges and do every little thing we are able to to assist them succeed. The Gamers Period Competition aligns with these aims. Along with enjoying high quality opponents in an NCAA tournament-like ambiance, the journey ought to present our gamers with entry to NIL alternatives. We’re trying ahead to being a part of the inaugural class of individuals.”
As for others within the 2024 area, Rutgers brings within the highest-rated freshman class in class historical past, whereas Creighton enjoying Oregon means Geese coach Dana Altman will once more face the varsity he coached for 16 years. Altman ran Creighton’s program from 1994-2010. The 2 groups met in March within the second spherical of the NCAA Match with the Bluejays defeating the Geese 86-73 in a double-overtime thriller.
After the inaugural match in 2024, the expectation is to more-than-double the dimensions of the sector (minimally), with not less than 18 groups now the goal for 2025 and past. Along with the eight groups on board for this 12 months, others which have agreed to play in Las Vegas for 2025 are Gonzaga, Michigan, St. John’s, Syracuse and Saint Joe’s.
Organizers have dedicated to a five-year plan in Las Vegas in an try and make the Gamers Period Competition the premier November faculty basketball multi-team occasion.
“Faculty athletics is experiencing a monumental shift, and the Gamers Period Competition is planting a flag on this new frontier with a first-of-its-kind occasion that shall be a game-changer for making a extra equitable mannequin for school basketball,” EverWonder Studio CEO Ian Orefice mentioned. Orefice is without doubt one of the central figures who assembled the occasion. “Every little thing in regards to the Competition is completely groundbreaking, from the format to the NIL alternatives for gamers, and the competitors that can make this a must-see occasion for school basketball followers. With a powerful lineup for this inaugural occasion, and an much more unimaginable area lined up for subsequent season, the Gamers Period Competition will assist usher in a brand new period for school sports activities.”
Organizers have been in negotiations with MGM Resorts Worldwide to carry future video games at all or any of its three main venues: T-Cell Area, MGM Grand Backyard Area and Michelob ULTRA Area. Starting in 2025, the expectation is to create “international-style group play with championship matchups.”
That may imply group-stage play (as seen in FIBA and World Cup competitors) earlier than shifting on to single-elimination bracket play.
The steered format is an unprecedented association for a university sports activities occasion, as is the very nature of the Gamers Period Competition. Questions loom about its long-term viability because of the amount of cash concerned it would take to drag it off, but when the Gamers Period Competition proves to achieve success and financially solvent, the occasion will change the elemental nature of school basketball scheduling within the early weeks of the common season.