LAS VEGAS (AP) — From the traditional National Invitation Tournament to the College Basketball Invitational and CollegeInsider.com, the sport doesn't lack postseason opportunities for teams that don't make the NCAA Tournament.
Even so, Fox Sports executives looked at the schedule and thought there was a place for one more, working with AEG to put together the College Basketball Crown, a 16-team tournament in Las Vegas that concludes its inaugural edition Sunday.
“There were some holes in our programming schedule,” said Jordan Bazant, who is in charge of the tournament for Fox Sports.
Fox Sports is a primary broadcaster during the regular season, but had been relegated to the sidelines once the NCAA Tournament began as CBS and TNT Sports took over coverage.
Bazant emphasized the Crown isn't meant to take away from March Madness, but to add to it.
That's not to say organizers have eased into the postseason landscape. The Crown guarantees $500,000 in name, image and likeness money, with $300,000 going to the winning team. The runner-up receives $100,000 and the semifinal losers $50,000 apiece. Players must take part in promotional opportunities to receive the money.
It’s a similar format to the Players Era Festival, an early-season tournament also in Las Vegas that offered at least $1 million in NIL money to each of the eight participating teams. Bazant said the Crown borrowed some ideas from that event and other tournaments.
The kind of money the Crown is offering might make it difficult for other postseason tournaments to compete for teams. Bazant said many teams sat out such events anyway because they lost money or didn't think those events carried enough prestige.
“We're trying to provide an additional experience that those high-profile universities feel like they can participate from both financial and a brand standpoint,” Bazant said. “But at the same time, that opens up other opportunities for mid-majors and low Division I majors to participate in these other events. So we think we're just adding to the potential opportunities for student-athletes, not taking away from anyone.
“Our goal truly is to be additive to the ecosystem and not dilutive.”
To that end, Bazant said those teams competing in the Crown are staying in some of Las Vegas' top hotels, with the aim of creating a bowl-game like atmosphere for players who spend multiple days in the city.
“The folks did a great job in working to create a first-class event — transportation in, hotel, food,” said retired Hall of Fame coach Lon Kruger, who lives in Las Vegas and serves as an ambassador for the tournament. “The people that are here have great things to say about everything so far. It's in the first year. It's only going to grow from here on.”
Fox Sports-affiliated conferences Big East, Big Ten and Big 12 each had two automatic qualifiers for this year's tournament and the other 10 teams were at-large choices.
Boise State was the only team, however, among the first four out of the NCAA Tournament to sign up. The other three schools — Indiana, Ohio State and West Virginia — opted to end their seasons. Boise State has advanced to Saturday's semfinials against Nebraska.
“Boise State is a phenomenal team,” Bazant said. “They're not from what a common person would call a Power Four, but it has a great basketball tradition. So for us, tradition and history is more important than what conference you play in. But what conference you play in does help you build tradition.”
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