Players Era Festival
| Sport | College basketball |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2024 |
| Founder | EverWonder Studio and Seth Berger |
| No. of teams | 8 (2024) |
| Country | United States |
| Venue(s) | MGM Grand Garden Arena Paradise, Nevada |
| Most recent champion(s) | Oregon |
| Most titles | Oregon (1) |
| Broadcaster(s) | TNT, TBS, TruTV and/or Max (streaming service) |
| Tournament format | Round robin (2024) |
| Official website | PlayersEra.com |
The Players Era Festival is an early-season college basketball tournament. The tournament takes place in Paradise, Nevada, with games being played at MGM Grand Garden Arena, during the week of the US holiday of Thanksgiving. A title sponsor has not been announced, but the tournament was created to give each team at least $1 million toward each team's Name, Imagine and Likeness (NIL). The tournament played its edition during the 2024–25 NCAA Division I men's basketball season.
In August 2024, the NCAA sent out a memo reiterating that players could not be directly compensated for participating in an MTE, even if the money was routed through a collective. EverWonder claimed that players would participate in sponsorship opportunities on behalf of the event that would allow for NIL compensation, with this compensation being described in agreements between EverWonder and the schools' NIL collectives, but not in the agreements between EverWonder and the schools themselves.
The following month, a financial representative for the event informed Sportico that an announcement would be made soon for the sponsor and TV partner. The publication questioned the event's prospective profitability, as other MTEs bring in between $1–3 million, far below the potential amount needed to make the event profitable.
On December 16, 2024, it was announced there will be an inaugural Players Era Women's Championship in 2025, which will take place over three days during Thanksgiving week in Las Vegas. The women's iteration will coincide with the men's tournament.