photo by: Nick Krug

Kansas head coach Bill Self calls a play during the second half on Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024 at Allen Fieldhouse.

Updated 4 p.m. Tuesday, July 1, 2025:

Two of Kansas’ three opponents for the Players Era Festival basketball tournament during Thanksgiving week were revealed by multiple reports on Tuesday, after a participating school published and then deleted the event schedule on Monday night.

According to CBS Sports, KU will face Notre Dame on Monday, Nov. 24, and Syracuse on Tuesday, Nov. 25, with both games scheduled for 2:30 p.m. Central Time in Las Vegas.

The Jayhawks will play a third game, most likely on Nov. 26, with the opponent yet to be determined based on results from the first two days. Per a press release by Iowa State, one of the participating schools, that third game could take place at 6 p.m., 7 p.m., 8:30 p.m. or 9:30 p.m. Central Time on Nov. 26 (for the top six teams in each eight-team pool) or 3:30 p.m. on Nov. 27 (for the bottom two). Ties in the standings will be broken by head-to-head results followed by point differential (capped at 15 points), then points scored, then fewest points allowed, then AP poll ranking.

All matchups will take place at MGM Grand Garden Arena and Michelob Ultra Arena, according to CBS.

The Players Era Festival is entering its second year of existence, and the tournament is known for its high payouts in the form of name, image and likeness dollars for participating players.

Per a contract obtained in March by the Journal-World via a public-records request, KU is receiving $500,000 to start out from tournament organizer EverWonder Studio. Then, KU’s players will earn a total of $1,500,000 by participating in NIL activities, with half of the money coming from activities in Las Vegas and half in Lawrence. Finally, the team can receive additional bonuses depending on its performance in the event. The champion gets $1,000,000, the runner-up gets $500,000 and the “third through fourth or sixth place teams” can have another $500,000 split between them, according to the contract.

KU also received, per the terms of the deal, a travel stipend for $100,000 in airfare and an additional $200,000 to buy the Jayhawks out of their previous multi-team event for 2025, the Rady Children’s Invitational in San Diego.

As noted in the CBS article, the NIL climate has changed significantly since the Players Era was first conceived and then executed last season. As a result of the House v. NCAA settlement, which went into effect officially on Tuesday, teams may pay their players directly with a total of $20.5 million across all sports, and any additional dollars must come in the form of NIL deals that are subject to approval by a third-party clearinghouse operated by Deloitte (known as NIL Go). It’s not clear yet whether KU’s payments would go into the revenue-sharing pool or if they would be subject to NIL Go.

Notre Dame is coming off a season in which it went 15-18 overall and 8-12 in the ACC and missed the postseason. The Fighting Irish are led by head coach Micah Shrewsberry, who is entering his third season at the helm. They added Northern Arizona transfer Carson Towt, the nation’s leading rebounder last season, as well as several freshmen headlined by 6-foot-7 forward and Indiana native Jalen Haralson. Notre Dame has won nine of 12 all-time matchups against KU, but the schools haven’t played since 1988.

Syracuse, another ACC program, also finished sub-.500 at 14-19 (7-13 in league play) in its second year under Adrian Autry. The Orange retooled with a strong recruiting class featuring forward Sadiq White and guard Kiyan Anthony, the son of former Syracuse standout and NBA star Carmelo Anthony; the team also brought in six transfers. The series between KU and Syracuse is tied 3-3 all-time, with the most recent matchup a victory for the Jayhawks in Miami in December 2017; it famously includes the 2003 national title game that went the way of the Orange.

Notre Dame plays Rutgers on the second day, while Syracuse battles Houston on the first. Syracuse will also play Saint Joseph’s in a connected event in Las Vegas shortly before the Players Era Festival begins.