The Syracuse Orange basketball program appears ready to be back in Las Vegas for the 2026 Players Era tournament. social media post this weekPlayers Era wrote about the 2026 field and specifically mentioned that the next tournament would be “powered by all of the returning 2025 programs.”
TNIAAM reached out to a Syracuse men’s basketball spokesperson for comment on whether the Orange were officially participating in the 2026 event. In an emailed statement Thursday, the program declined to say whether the team would officially participate in the event until Syracuse University “signs contracts.”
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The Orange participated in the a one-of-a-kind competition, based on NIL in November 2025. All participating teams receive $1 million for participating in the tournament. An additional $1 million is awarded to the team that wins the event.
Sportico reported earlier this month, “several participating teams” are still awaiting zero payments, including Oregon, UNLV and Iowa State. Michigan had received payment for participating, but had not yet received payment for winning the event. TNIAAM has asked Syracuse to confirm whether the Orange have been paid in full. We will follow up with additional reports when information becomes available.
The era of gamers officially begin in the 2024-25 season with eight teams. It then expanded to a field of 18 programs, including Syracuse, which finished 0-3 in the competition after losing to Houston (by four in overtime), Kansas (by 11) and Iowa State (by 31).
Players Era is seeking $50 million for the rights to broadcast the event, but has yet to secure an offer, according to Sportico. Players Era has drawn criticism for its process for selecting championship games in 2025, choosing to stick to rankings rather than a traditional bracket. Only teams that had a 2–0 record were eligible for the championship game while point differential, points scored, points allowed, and AP ranking were used to determine tiebreaker scenarios. This put Gonzaga and Michigan in the championship game and somehow put 2-0 Iowa State against 0-2 Syracuse.
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Assuming Syracuse and the other remaining 2025 teams return to Vegas, the 2026 PE field will consist of 22 teams, as of Thursday. Era of Players Previously announcement four other Big 12 teams – Kansas State, TCU, Texas Tech and West Virginia – would be competing. Syracuse and Notre Dame were the only two ACC teams that participated in the 2025 Players Era Festival.
