LAS VEGAS -- In the years ahead, the Big 12 will get eight automatic bids to the Players Era Festival as part of a $50 million equity partnership with the top college basketball event, officials announced on Monday, the first day of the tournament.
The partnership will create a new financial relationship between the Big 12 and the Players Era, which gives every participant a guaranteed $1 million NIL payout. It also ensures that the event will have eight teams each year from one of the country's top conferences as it prepares to expand to 32 squads in 2026.
In this year's event, No. 2 Houston, No. 24 Kansas, No. 16 Iowa State and Baylor are key teams in a Players Era field that features nine top-25 programs. The league's representatives -- beginning next season through the 2029-2030 event -- will be determined by the previous year's conference standings. Had the agreement been in place for this season's event, Houston, Texas Tech, Arizona, BYU, Iowa State, Kansas, Baylor and West Virginia would have all been included.
"The Big 12 Conference continues to lead collegiate athletics' movement into a new landscape, and we are incredibly proud to enter into this partnership," Seth Berger, CEO of the Players Era Festival, said in the event's release. "The conference has been instrumental to our growth from day one. The Big 12 now receives guaranteed access to the biggest college basketball event outside of March and it will benefit perennial powers and teams with national championship aspirations. Over the next six years, Players Era will commit no less than $50 million dollars to Big 12 basketball programs in rights fees."
Since the 2013-14 season, the Big 12 has finished first or second in KenPom's conference rankings 11 out of the past 12 seasons. The partnership with Players Era also demonstrates the ways leagues are creating new financial streams in the rev-share era.
According to sources, the Players Era aims to become an NCAA tournament-like event in November that will feature the best teams in college basketball. That ambition could include a new format and games that take place outside Las Vegas in the future. Its changes have already impacted other Feast Week events because of its rapid growth and payouts. Expansion in the years ahead will limit the number of available elite teams for other events within the sport as the Players Era event moves forward.
"The Big 12 Conference is thrilled to grow its partnership with Players Era," Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark said through the event's release. "The tournament is a tremendous platform to showcase our conference, student-athletes and coaches as the best in college basketball, and we look forward to continuing to make Players Era a national marquee event."