Florida basketball will participate in the 2026 Players Era Tournament held in Las Vegas alongside 23 other schools next November. The event is organized by the EverWonder Studio company in partnership with ESPN, which will broadcast the games.
The Players Era Festival, a Las Vegas-based NIL event that pays millions to college basketball players, debuted in 2024 with just eight teams. The field expanded to 18 teams last season and was originally expected to host 32 teams this year, but instead will settle at two dozen participants.
“The Players Era Men’s Championship has already become one of the elite multi-team events in a short time, and we’re excited to be part of that growth and innovation,” head coach Todd Golden said in an August 2025 press release. “With the field assembled, Players Era will be a central piece of our nonconference schedule for the next several years.”
The Gators are assigned to the Players Era 8 bracket, which puts them up against the Auburn Tigers, Houston Cougars, Kansas Jayhawks, Notre Dame Fighting Irish, Rutgers Scarlet Knights, UNLV Rebels and West Virginia Mountaineers.
The other bracket, the Players Era 16, features the Alabama Crimson Tide, Baylor Bears, Creighton Bluejays, Gonzaga Bulldogs, Iowa State Cyclones, Kansas State Wildcats, Louisville Cardinals, Maryland Terrapins, Miami Hurricanes, Michigan Wolverines, Oregon Ducks, San Diego State Aztecs, St. John’s Red Storm, Tennessee Volunteers, TCU Horned Frogs and Texas Tech Red Raiders.
“College basketball is the hottest and one of the fastest-growing sports properties in the country,” Players Era CEO Seth Berger is quoted as saying on the official website. “The players have never been better, and record ratings for early-season college basketball reflect that. Led by top programs from multiple conferences across the sport, the teams in our field are stronger than ever. We can’t wait to bring March to November with the number one college basketball network in the world, ESPN.”
Golden mentioned in April that his team is aiming for competitive balance when composing their non-conference schedule for the 2026-27 campaign, with the Players Era Tournament offering multiple marquee matchups from the season’s opening tipoff.
“We’re playing in Players Era, so that’s three, four really good games right there. And we’ll play a couple more really tough opponents in preparation (for SEC play)… It did not feel good being 5-4 (last December), but it definitely benefited us and allowed us to be prepared to win the league.”
Last season, the Orange and Blue opened up play with a matchup against the Arizona Wildcats — who held the top spot in the polls for a good portion of the season while also earning a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament — in the Hall of Fame series held in Las Vegas. Florida lost that game, 93-87, in a hard-fought affair that set the tone for a difficult first two months of the schedule, which also included defeats at the hands of the Duke Blue Devils, UConn Huskies and TCU Horned Frogs in non-conference play.
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This article originally appeared on Gators Wire: Florida basketball among 24 playing in the 2026 Players Era Tournament
Reporting by Adam Dubbin, Gators Wire / Gators Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
