Updated 1:53 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024:
The Kansas men’s basketball team will play neutral-site matchups in Las Vegas in three out of four years, now that it has signed on to a multi-team event for the 2025-26 season.
KU Athletics announced on Thursday morning that the Jayhawks will take part in the 2025 edition of the Players Era Men’s Championship tournament in Las Vegas, expected to take place during Thanksgiving week. College Hoops Today had previously reported that KU was going to take part in the Rady Children’s Invitational in San Diego before news of its Players Era participation emerged on Tuesday night.
“We’re fired up to be a participant in next year’s Players Era Men’s Championship,” KU coach Bill Self said in a press release. “This season’s Players Era was a big success. This will be a great opportunity for our team and I’m sure our fan base will enjoy spending a few more days in Las Vegas.”
As opposed to a more traditional MTE like the San Diego event, the Players Era has drawn a great deal of public attention because it pays out $1 million or more in name, image and likeness funds to each participating team in exchange for various local sponsorship opportunities centered on the tournament.
The first edition of the event took place this year with eight schools at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, and next year’s Players Era Festival is expected to feature significantly more teams — KU is the 16th and the press release indicates the event will feature “at least 18.” The Rady Children’s event, meanwhile, would have featured KU along with Florida, Providence and Wisconsin, according to previous reporting by College Hoops Today.
“Adding the University of Kansas – a perennial national championship contender and arguably the most accomplished program in the history of NCAA men’s basketball – to our 2025 Men’s Championship field elevates our event to an entirely different level,” Players Era CEO Seth Berger said in the release. “I want to thank Coach Bill Self for his commitment to Players Era and his belief in what we are building, putting the players’ needs above all else and building an unprecedented field of top-tier programs. It includes multiple teams from each power conference and the Big 12 leading the way with four squads, which is going to make this a must-see event.”
The schedule switch is consistent with recent remarks Self has made in a variety of venues about the importance of scheduling in order to raise money for the athletic department, prioritizing opportunities to garner revenue-sharing dollars — with an eye toward the new system, House settlement pending, that will allow KU to share money directly with its student athletes — over elaborate and expensive “experience”-focused events like the Maui Invitational or the Battle 4 Atlantis in the Bahamas.
The Jayhawks did not participate in an extended multi-team event like either of those this season, instead opting for the Vegas Showdown that comprised one game against Duke at T-Mobile Arena and another against Furman at Allen Fieldhouse.
“Times have changed and they’re going to continue to change and scheduling will be done more and more with the thought of how does this benefit us from a revenue standpoint, not just from an experience standpoint,” Self added in his press conference on Thursday. “And with the Players Era I think we’re pretty fortunate we get to still experience both.”
Between this past Vegas Showdown, next year’s reported Players Era Festival and the 2027 Hall of Fame Series game against Indiana at Allegiant Stadium, KU will be spending plenty of time in Las Vegas in the years ahead.
The Jayhawks’ schedule for the 2025-26 campaign is also expected to include a Champions Classic matchup with Duke at Madison Square Garden, road dates at North Carolina and N.C. State, a neutral-site Border Showdown at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri, and much more.
