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The College Basketball Crown just rose to another level heading into the inaugural year of the tournament, with big news dropping on Tuesday. The 16-team tournament, which features a combined 11 teams from the Big 12, Big East and Big Ten, announced a first-of-its-kind Name, Image and Likeness prize pool that will reward the championship team with a $300,000 NIL package. The runner-up will earn a $100,000 package, while $50,000 will go to the semifinalists through a new venture labeled the Vivid Seats Ambassador Program.
In a world where NIL is the No. 1 driver of everything happening in college sports, adding brand ambassador endorsement deals for the College Basketball Crown’s top-four finishing teams underscores the new event’s goal to differentiate itself and become the premier postseason tournament – outside the NCAA Tournament – in college basketball.
March Madness carries a certain weight in college basketball, but by the end of this weekend, there are only three more tournament games left with the Final Four and national title game.
That’s where Executive Vice President of FOX Sports Jordan Bazant saw a concept that has turned into a reality. This is a postseason event that satisfies fans surrounding the Final Four with more basketball on TV while delivering a prize that’s worth something to the players’ wallets. The event can build up players’ professional stock with scouts on hand and raise the profile of programs trying to take the next step.
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“Any time you have a chance to compete for a championship, there definitely is a benefit for your program,” Nebraska head coach Fred Hoiberg told FOX Sports. “Our guys were unanimous about going out and playing, and that is a good sign for everything you have going with the culture of your program when your guys want to keep playing together and compete.
“We have had the opportunity to have some high-level practices in preparation for the Crown,” added Hoiberg, who has charged the Huskers to back-to-back postseason appearances after they reached the program’s first NCAA Tournament since 2014 last year. “I’ve been impressed with the effort the Crown has put into making this a first-class event for the teams in Las Vegas, and we are looking forward to going out and playing.”
The Huskers own wins over four NCAA Tournament teams this season – Creighton, Oregon, Illinois and UCLA – and have shown some serious flashes behind Brice Williams, Juwan Gary, and a top-50 defense in the country. For a senior duo like Williams and Gary, the Crown is also special because it opens the door for them to wear the Nebraska jersey at least once more while chasing a postseason championship.
Players from the tournament’s top four finishing teams will engage as brand ambassadors on behalf of Vivid Seats. Athletes from qualifying teams will have opportunities to leverage their NIL through various marketing campaigns, including social media activations and more.
A story like Nebraska shows the impact of this event in one light, but how about for a program that’s been extremely unfamiliar to postseason basketball? That sums up the DePaul Blue Demons, who own the nation’s longest high-major streak without an NCAA Tournament berth, dating back to 2004.
By hiring former Ohio State and Butler head coach Chris Holtmann, who went to seven of the last nine NCAA Tournaments before taking the DePaul job, it immediately added legitimacy to a head-coaching position that was in dire need of it. The Blue Demons went from zero wins over Big East teams the prior year to five this season. With Layden Blocker, CJ Gunn, NJ Benson and others slated to return, The Crown offers a window for DePaul to start building toward next season.
[More: College Basketball Crown: Guide to all 16 teams in the tournament]
“The Crown is going to be a great postseason event and one we are really excited about,” Holtmann told FOX Sports. “Between the location, quality of teams playing and FOX as a broadcast partner, we know this will be a first-class event that is a game-changer for us. For DePaul, in our first year of rebuilding our program, we felt it was important to continue playing if given the opportunity.”
The Blue Demons will meet a Cincinnati program that reached the AP top 15 at one point this season and is trying to build momentum as Wes Miller wraps up his fourth year at the helm.
While 11 high-major programs highlight the field, there are other teams, like George Washington out of the A-10, that are looking to make a splash in the first-year event. The Revolutionaries, who are led by big man Rafael Castro and guard Gerald Drumgoole Jr., are coming off a 21-win season, a six-win improvement from last year.
“The Crown gives our program the opportunity to play against high-level opponents, brand names in college basketball on national television in a great city like Las Vegas,” third-year head coach Chris Caputo said. “The idea that we can also benefit financially from the NIL incentives makes it truly a tremendous opportunity for any program competing in the postseason.”
There are many other storylines in this event as well, like national leading scorer Eric Dixon, who is just eight points shy of Kerry Kittles’ all-time scoring record at Villanova.
Meanwhile, star guard Desmond Claude tries to lead a USC program aiming to make some noise in Eric Musselman’s first season as head coach. Nate Calmese and Micah Peavy square off in a fun matchup between Washington State and Ed Cooley’s Georgetown team. Tyson Degenhart tries to get redemption with a Boise State team that should have been included in the NCAA Tournament field, but can silence those doubters by making a run in the College Basketball Crown.
John Fanta predicts the first-ever College Basketball Crown winner
There are narratives, stars, the bright lights of Las Vegas, and more hoops ahead of the Final Four from March 31-April 6, with non-stop action airing Monday (3/31) and Tuesday (4/1) on FS1. The second round (April 2-3) will air on FS1, while the semifinal round (April 5) and championship (April 6) will air on FOX.
The added element of NIL dollars brings a totally different dimension to this event, one that shows its ability to adapt to modern times and get ahead of the curve while also directly benefiting its participants.
For a sport that could use a shakeup to create more compelling games during the biggest time of year, the College Basketball Crown is going to do just that and has the upside to be a difference-making event for years to come.
John Fanta is a national college basketball broadcaster and writer for FOX Sports. He covers the sport in a variety of capacities, from calling games on FS1 to serving as lead host on the BIG EAST Digital Network to providing commentary on The Field of 68 Media Network. Follow him at @John_Fanta.
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