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About players era
Players Era, a subsidiary of EverWonder Studio, was founded in 2024 to create a more equitable model for college sports that centers around valuing the players and expanding global fandom through the creation of first-of-their-kind world-class events. Players Era debuted with the 2024 Players Era Festival, which delivered a week-long celebration of college basketball – featuring exciting games and groundbreaking NIL activities for participating teams. Continuing its rapid expansion, in 2025 the annual showcase evolved into an 18-team Players Era Men’s Championship and the inaugural Players Era Women’s Championship, with both tournaments featuring the eventual national championship winning team. The 2026 Men's Championships expand to 24 teams competing across two tournaments in Las Vegas, and a new multi-year broadcast agreement with ESPN. The 2026 season-opening Eternal City Tip-Off featuring Notre Dame and Villanova in Rome is Players Era’s first-ever international event, with the company planning further opportunities for expansion and exciting showcases as it grows its overall impact.
What people are saying
“This innovative event brings together everything we’re looking for – quality games early in the season, a great location for fans to come and enjoy, and NIL opportunities for our players.”
Dawn Staley, South carolina wbb
"Players Era features elite programs, meaningful competition and high-stakes matchups to starteach season. These tournaments immediately strengthen ESPN’s industry-leading collegebasketball portfolio and underscores our commitment to showcasing the best teams andstorylines across the sport."
Dan Margulis, ESPN Senior Director of College Basketball Programming and Acquisitions
“This event will allow us to compete against the best teams in the country early in the season and will give us a great indication and evaluation early on. The opportunity Players Era will provide us within the NIL space is really unprecedented and again we are so thankful to be a part of this tremendous event.”
Vic Schaefer, Texas wbb
"Seth and his group, we get there and the MGM was great to us, The food was great, they got high-level officials, which all of us wanted. We were treated great.”
dana altman, Oregon mbb
“We're excited for a rematch with South Carolina and the opportunity to compete against other exceptional programs at the Player's Era Women’s Championship. This will be the premier out of conference tournament with a national audience to boot. It is a great honor to be included in this elite event.“
Cori Close, UCLA wbb
"We're fired up to be a participant in next year's Players Era Men’s Championship. 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."
Bill Self, kansas MBB
