The Syracuse Orange men’s basketball team will not be competing in the 2026 Players Era Festival, a team spokesperson confirmed to TNIAAM on Wednesday.
Syracuse was one of 18 teams who participated in the NIL-based tournament in 2025, which was based out of Las Vegas. It went 0-3 in the Players Era, with losses to Houston, Kansas and Iowa State.
The spokesperson also confirmed whether Syracuse was paid for taking part in Players Era last year. Sportico had previously reported several programs who participated
were still awaiting NIL payouts.
“Syracuse has received its tournament payout from the 2025 event,” the spokesperson wrote in a statement to TNIAAM.
Recently, it was unclear whether Syracuse would be competing in the 2026 version of the tournament, which first began in 2024 with eight teams.
A social media post by Players Era in mid-February notably included Syracuse guard Kiyan Anthony and said the 2026 field would “be elite, powered by all the returning programs from 2025.”
Including Syracuse, 18 teams competed in the 2025 tournament. Syracuse and Notre Dame were the only two schools from the ACC who participated in the event this past season.
Initial reporting hinted Syracuse would likely not be heading back to Vegas for the upcoming year.
In a recent article released by Sportico, the outlet said “several programs” who were set to partake in the 2026 Players Era Tournament were “now unlikely to do so.” Syracuse was among the programs mentioned in the story.
Regarding the 2026 schedule, Syracuse has reportedly locked in two opponents: neutral-site games versus Providence in Boston and against Indiana in Indianapolis. The Orange will also have a third TBD opponent as part of the ACC/SEC Challenge.
We’ll continue to keep you posted as more scheduling news is released.
