LAS VEGAS —If there were two things to take away from the Players Era tournament held on the Strip this Feast Week, it’s that Michigan is the clear national championship frontrunner and that college basketball’s most diehard fans would love nothing more than to see this monopoly of a beloved week be discontinued.
Perhaps the only thing more unanimous than Michigan’s claim to the 2025 Players Era title was the widespread apprehension about how the in-arena atmosphere was coming across on television. Or the very rules that allowed Michigan to advance to Thursday’s championship game against Gonzaga to begin with, which resulted in a 40-point thrashing of the Bulldogs that served as one of the loudest statements an emerging team has made in recent memory.
23-year-old senior Yaxel Lendeborg took his first major step toward establishing a legitimate National Player of the Year campaign, tallying 20 points and 11 rebounds while shooting an efficient 6-of-9 from the field overall with a pair of dunks that might be No. 1 and No. 2 on SportsCenter’s Top 10 Plays in the morning.
Yaxel Lendeborg could not believe the size of that @Players_Era MVP ring 😭💍 pic.twitter.com/qOV0Q8DxPA
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) November 27, 2025
No Bracket, Big Problem?
Instead of a traditional bracket, Players Era sought to differentiate itself from the Feast Week competition by using point-differential tiebreakers to determine which 2-0 teams would advance to play in the $1 million championship game on Thursday. While Michigan and Gonzaga were both far ahead of the rest in that differential, the fact that Tennessee was sent to the third-place game after beating No. 3 Houston in what was, at the time, the best win in the tournament didn’t sit well with folks.
After seeing just how decisive Thursday’s matchup was in favor of Michigan, perhaps the defending national runner-up Houston Cougars would have had a much better time than the Zags on Thursday. Or maybe 2-0 Iowa State would have been, but for some reason beyond comprehension, they were relegated to a 10:30 a.m. local time consolation game against a Syracuse team that went 0-2 in its group-play games. On the bright side, I guess it’s good the Cyclones could get back to Ames with plenty of time to spare for Thanksgiving.
Three teams won’t be so lucky. Creighton and San Diego State will meet in an 11 a.m. consolation game on Thanksgiving morning, while Rutgers will be tasked with facing the hometown UNLV Runnin’ Rebels before catching a cross-country flight back to Newark that will likely land sometime late Thursday night or maybe even early on Black Friday morning. While that was clearly defined in the tournament’s terms, it’s hard not to feel bad about the break they got.
Growing and Here to Stay
In terms of the event’s future, it doesn’t seem the widespread fan criticisms and timely jokes on social media throughout the week will have much effect on the tournament’s continuation. While the 70% empty arenas may have come across as unappealing and dry to a television audience, Players Era CEO Seth Berger all but confirmed that they actually sold more tickets than expected during a press conference on Wednesday.
It does seem like they’re willing to listen to some of the criticisms levied by fans, however, as they’ve already backed off what sounded like a pretty firm declaration from Berger that next year’s upgraded 32-team field would again be playing in a point differential-based tournament. After a near-unanimous torching, even from reporters that many fans joked were being paid off by the tournament, Berger quickly reneged on that commitment.
And yes, you read that correctly. The Las Vegas-based, MGM-controlled monopolization of Feast Week will expand to 32 teams next season, and the superior financial incentives compared to any of the other multi-team events (MTEs) this week will likely render some fan favorites like the Maui Invitational and the Myrtle Beach Classic upsettingly irrelevant.
Michigan just won the Players Era Championship by a total margin of 297-187.
Absolute domination. pic.twitter.com/pSTT7pllqJ
— Blue By 90 (@bluebyninety) November 27, 2025
In Defense of Las Vegas
As a Las Vegas-based reporter, I understand the fatigue surrounding the city’s recent dominance of the live-sporting industry. I really do. But the reality is, there isn’t a city on the planet more uniquely suited to hosting large-scale events, tournaments, and conventions, given the number of hotel rooms, arenas, ballrooms, and other spaces needed to accommodate both tourists and local fans.
And while I’ll certainly concede that the games came across largely bland and dull on television, as someone in the arena, I actually will attest that (at least a few) of the fanbases packed a punch this week and had not just a noticeable presence in the arenas but also in the casinos, restaurants, and bars around the Strip.
Still, the reality is that empty arena visuals were being excused by broadcasters on the basis that the Players Era tournament is, at its core, a made-for-TV event for fans to enjoy from home during the holiday week. If fans watching at home can’t get invested in the games because the atmosphere in the arena isn’t coming across, that’s a legitimate issue for the tournament, given how its own broadcaster is describing the event.
One of the co-founders of the Players Era Festival told @MattNorlander that they just need to do a better job of explaining their format.
That’s ridiculous, says @GaryParrishCBS.
They don’t need to explain their format better. What they need to do is change it completely. pic.twitter.com/hXT6jo65Du
— Eye On College Basketball Podcast (@EyeOnCBBPodcast) November 26, 2025
Simple Fixes
From what I saw on the scene this week, two pretty simple fixes could fill the arenas more for every game, which would, in turn, improve the viewing experience for those at home and allow some of the fans who were priced out this year to attend in the future. Keep in mind that simple doesn’t mean likely, because it might cost a little money.
First off, if you buy a ticket for a respective day, it needs to be for the whole day. Not just a two-game session where fans will then be kicked out and not allowed to re-enter ahead of the later games. Not a single arena this week was more than 35% full, and there was no reason to clear them out between games, yet it happened anyway, and it legitimately dampened the atmosphere.
My suggestion would be to give paying fans a wristband they can pick up at the box office that allows entry into either arena for any game. I promise, the arenas will still be nowhere near full, and that will only encourage more fans to come watch, making the product even more suitable for primetime television.
My second suggestion is to cut the whole two-arena nonsense entirely. I would extend the tournament by a few more days so that every game is in the same arena, and fans of teams that played earlier or later will either still be lingering around or filing in early to take advantage of their tickets and watch some high-level basketball. I understand MGM wants to charge for multiple sessions, but it has to be honest about the event’s long-term viability if the broadcast partner can’t make it palatable to the audience at home.
Final Thoughts
Ultimately, I do think the tournament will improve the experience for fans both in-person and at home as it matures into a more stable force on the Feast Week calendar. It has too much financial backing to fail without some serious intervention. However, I do think the fans’ displeasure this year will put some pressure on MGM and the tournament organizers to find ways to fill the arena(s) a bit more and make it a more popular event for fans to travel to, as well as a better event for the fans who won’t be in Las Vegas.
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