Players Era Festival: Bigger payday on the line for Michigan Basketball with title game victory

Michigan basketball has advanced to the title game of the Players Era Festival in Las Vegas after double-digit routs over San Diego State and Auburn this week, with the program set to face off against Gonzaga on Wednesday.

[Sign up for Maize & Blue Review for $1 and get PLUS access for 7 days!]

The Players Era Festival has become a highly sought-after competition in just its second year. Currently sitting at 18 teams, the tournament will expand to 32 teams next season as the tournament brings a new way for participating programs to earn NIL funds for their players.

According to ESPN, teams participating in the tournament will earn “over $1 million on average” but can exceed that number depending on final placement.

For U-M, the Wolverines are guaranteed a bigger payday for their players, no matter the result against the Bulldogs; it comes down to how much they would receive.

A victory over the Bulldogs on Wednesday would mean that the players would receive an extra $1 million in NIL funds for their players, and the loser of the title game would receive $500,000.

In short, the Wolverines’ total winnings during the event could be as high as $2 million with a win and around $1.5 million with a loss.

During the three-day event, the program had to participate in NIL-related activities outside the games to comply with NCAA NIL rules.

“Fill it up, hoop it up, play against the best, and see where you stand,” U-M head coach Dusty May said after Tuesday’s win over Auburn. “Guys, I don’t spend a lot of time thinking about things I don’t have control over, other than maybe we can help it be better for the future. So we appreciate this tournament. We have an opportunity to play three really good teams, and I assume in any tournament format, someone’s making the money. Someone’s benefitting financially. So I also don’t have a problem with players making money for being a part of something like this.

“But I don’t spend a lot of time thinking about it, other than just being excited to play in this tournament. I was excited to play in Fort Myers last year, to go with our team down to Fort Myers. That’s when we started to become who we became later in the year, was on that trip together. It could be the vitamin D. It could be the sun or whatever the case, but we enjoy coming into these formats because they’re fun. They’re on television.

“We’re watching the interview with two of the Fab Five members being proud of our players. That’s really cool for me and our staff as well. So just all those things, I think, they’re great for the game. Obviously live sports, college basketball. I turn on TV and I get frustrated because I hear people complain about this and this and I’m watching the game, I’m like, these guys are so good, and we get a chance to compete against them, and this is good for the game.”

May continued:

“I’m a big fan of the high-level games in this type of environment. Was it a sellout? No, but it’s probably — move it to a high school gym of 500 seats and it would be. I’ve been impressed with the feel of this tournament. It’s felt like a sub-regionals, as I think I heard Fran Fraschilla, or one of those guys tweet earlier today or yesterday.

“We’ve enjoyed it. Obviously, if we were 0-2, probably near as much. But next year we’ll be back here trying to win whatever bracket or tournament we’re in. I don’t think our guys are playing like this because of the financial incentive to win. I think they’re playing to win a championship, and whatever comes with that, comes with that.”

Tipoff is scheduled for 9 p.m. EST on TNT.