How does a $1 million payout sound?
The NCAA has had to radically change over the last half a decade with name, image and likeness taking over and changing the landscape as we know it and drastically altering many aspects of college sports.
The NCAA is starting to play the NIL game as well with a college basketball event in Las Vegas with prize money and guaranteed payouts on the line. The event is soon to be finalized.
CBS Sports reporters Matt Norlander and Dennis Dodd reported the news.
“A one-of-a-kind revolutionary regular-season men’s basketball event to be staged later this year in Las Vegas is expected to be finalized in the coming weeks, CBS Sports has learned. Its selling point is based on the major factor that has drastically altered college sports over the past three years: name, image, and likeness compensation for players,” the duo penned.
The 2024 event already has seven teams locked in, with the eighth yet to be selected. There are plans, per the report, to increase the number of programs that will be able to participate.
Their sources noted that Alabama, Houston, Notre Dame, Oregon, Rutgers, San Diego State, and Texas A&M were the teams on board.
There are still quite a bit of details to hammer out, but this could be a major attraction for programs as they look to recruit and increase their brand moving forward.
As one of the few blue-blood programs in the nation, Kentucky should continually be in the conversations for high-profile events like this.