A winner-take-all $1 million tournament opened for business today, as The Basketball Tournament (TBT) single-elimination competition started its run for the money.
And the ESPN glory.
For the next 60 days, teams have a chance to enroll in the unprecedented $1 million prize and a chance to play on ESPN.
“The interest in the event has surpassed our expectations since we announced the prize money and our ESPN partnership, and we think people will be both amazed and impressed with the teams that will be enrolling in the coming weeks,” said Jonathan Mugar, Founder of The Basketball Tournament. ”The competiveness, quality and depth of play in year one was impressive, and we already know that this year’s entrants will take the event to an even higher level.”
Entry into TBT is free, with an application period that runs from April 1st through June 1st. The only way for teams to qualify is to organize themselves and recruit votes via TheTournament.com. To be considered for entry, teams must consist of a General Manager (GM), at least seven players, and have 100+ votes. GMs will create team profiles on TheTournament.com in hopes of garnering enough votes to get an automatic bid to the tournament by the June 1st application deadline. Applicants must be 18 or older.
Fans who have registered on TheTournament.com will vote for their favorite teams, and 18 teams per region will be selected solely based on how many fan votes they are able to recruit online. TBT will invite six additional teams to play in each region based on creativity and talent.
Fans have 50,000 reasons to push for their teams. For the first time anywhere, the winning team’s fan group will share 5% ($50,000) of the overall prize.
Opening rounds for the 96 team field begin July 10-12 at regional sites in Los Angeles and Atlanta and continue July 17-19 in Chicago and Philadelphia. Play continues on Thursday, July 23, when defending champion Notre Dame Fighting Alumni meet the lower seeded Chicago entrant in the opening game of the Super 17 live from Chicago and televised on ESPNU.
Play continues the following day on Friday, July 24, from Chicago, with the Round of 16, which TBT will live stream. ESPNU will then carry all four Quarterfinal games onSaturday July 25, marathon coverage, live from Chicago. Whoever makes it out of Chicago will then travel to New York City for the semifinals on Saturday, August 1, carried live on ESPN. The next day, Sunday, August 2, the two finalists will play in the winner-take-all, $1 Million Championship Game, at3pm ET on ESPN.
In 2015, up to 96 teams plus defending champion Notre Dame Fighting Alumni will play for a grand prize of $1 Million, doubling last year’s prize of $500,000.4
Venues in each city will be announced shortly.
Philadelphia University and Boston University played host to the first tournament in June of 2014. In the championship game, the Notre Dame Fighting Alumni (led by former All BIG EAST players Torin Francis, Chris Thomas, Russell Carter) defeated tournament favorite Team Barstool (led by Ross Burns, Dave Portnoy, Dan Katz and several players with NBA experience, including Los Angeles Clipper Dahntay Jones), 72-68, to win the event and the $500,000. The Notre Dame Fighting Alumni will be back to defend their title in 2015.
ABOUT THE BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT
Conceived by CEO Mugar as the ultimate opportunity for fans, athletes and social media mavens to create teams and then participate in a high-stakes, professionally run and organized sporting event, The Basketball Tournament is a winner-take-all single elimination open competition for players 18 years of age or older.
In its first season, The Basketball Tournament drew over 100 potential team entries from around the country with 32 teams ultimately making the field. Participants ranged from professional players and recent college talent to local legends and pickup basketball stars. An overwhelming success in its launch year, the event is doubling in size in 2015. Among the advisors for the event are sports industry veterans Tony Ponturo of Ponturo Management Group, Andy Dolich of Dolich Consulting, and Len DeLuca of Len DeLuca & Associates, LLC.