FOX Sports & AEG Launch the College Basketball Crown: A Reimagined Postseason College Hoops Tournament

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Today, FOX Sports and AEG launch the College Basketball Crown, a new addition to the college hoops postseason landscape beginning in 2025. The 16-team tournament will highlight elite student-athletes and competitive postseason matchups from select conferences, bringing fans more high-level competition and compelling storylines during the most exciting time of the year.

(Graphic: Business Wire)

The inaugural College Basketball Crown is set to feature schools from the Big Ten, Big 12 and BIG EAST, with additional at-large participants. The College Basketball Crown will take place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena and T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas from Monday, March 31 to Sunday, April 6, 2025, with all the action airing on FOX and FS1.

Teams that did not qualify for the NCAA tournament will be eligible for the College Basketball Crown, with two automatic qualifiers coming from each participating conference and additional teams chosen by a committee.

“Postseason college basketball is one of the most exciting times of year and FOX Sports is proud to be at the forefront of efforts to evolve and elevate the sport,” said Jordan Bazant, Executive Vice President, FOX Sports. “Alongside AEG and the Big Ten, Big 12 and BIG EAST, we are thrilled to provide more opportunities for student-athletes to compete in high quality postseason college hoops and for viewers to enjoy the chase for the College Basketball Crown.”

AEG Global Partnerships will have exclusive rights to all commercial sales and sponsorship activations for the College Basketball Crown with FOX Sports overseeing media rights and broadcast sales.

"We are thrilled to join FOX Sports, the Big Ten, Big 12 and BIG EAST who share our vision and our enthusiasm to create one-of-a-kind experiences and events that benefit both fans and the entire global sports landscape,” said Todd Goldstein, Chief Revenue Officer, AEG. “The time is right, Las Vegas is the ideal destination and the College Basketball Crown is the perfect additive event to further elevate the most exciting postseason in sports.”

Vivid Seats has been selected as the Official Ticketing Provider of the College Basketball Crown and will be the exclusive home for tickets across all of the games in the College Basketball Crown tournament. Through this unique and innovative agreement with FOX Sports, AEG and its global ticketing platform AXS, Vivid Seats will provide fans with a new, turnkey end-to-end ticketing experience.

Commissioner Quotes on the Inaugural College Basketball Crown

"We are honored to participate in the inaugural College Basketball Crown, which will be an exciting and innovative addition to the college basketball calendar," said BIG EAST Commissioner Val Ackerman. "We are confident that the formidable capabilities of FOX Sports, AEG, and their event partners will translate into a high-quality post-season opportunity for our coaches, players and schools."

“The Big Ten Conference looks forward to competing in the inaugural College Basketball Crown,” said Big Ten Commissioner Tony Petitti. “It is sure to be an exciting post-season opportunity for our student-athletes, coaches and fans across the country.”

“The Big 12 Conference is thrilled to be a part of the College Basketball Crown,” said Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark. "College basketball's popularity is on the rise, and we look forward to being a part of another meaningful postseason moment for our student-athletes."

Additional information on the College Basketball Crown, including ticket sales, broadcast details and more will be released at a later date.

Click HERE for the College Basketball Crown assets, including tournament and conference logos, and imagery of the arenas.

About FOX Sports

FOX Sports is the umbrella entity representing FOX Corporation’s wide array of multi-platform US-based sports assets. Built with brands capable of reaching more than 100 million viewers in a single weekend, the business has ownership and interests in linear television networks, digital and mobile programming, broadband platforms, multiple web sites, joint-venture businesses and several licensing relationships. FOX Sports includes the sports television arm of the FOX Network; FS1, FS2, FOX Soccer Plus and FOX Deportes. FOX Sports’ digital properties include FOXSports.com and the FOX Sports App, which provides live streaming video of FOX Sports content, instant scores, stats and alerts to iOS and Android devices. Additionally, FOX Sports and social broadcasting platform, Caffeine jointly own Caffeine Studios which creates exclusive eSports, sports and live entertainment content. Also included in FOX Sports’ portfolio are FOX’s interests in joint-venture business Big Ten Network, and a licensing agreement that established the FOX Sports Radio Network.

About AEG

Headquartered in Los Angeles, California, AEG is the world's leading sports and live entertainment company. The company operates in the following business segments: Facilities, which through its affiliation with ASM Global, owns, manages or consults with more than 300 preeminent arenas, stadiums, convention centers and performing arts venues around the world; Music through AEG Presents, which is dedicated to all aspects of live contemporary music performances, including producing and promoting global and regional concert tours, music and special events and world-renowned festivals such as the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival; Real Estate, which develops world-class venues, as well as major sports and entertainment districts like Crypto.com Arena, L.A. LIVE, Uber Arena and Uber Platz in Berlin, Mercedes-Benz Arena in Shanghai and The O2 in London; Sports, as the world's largest operator of high-profile sporting events and sports franchises including the LA Kings, LA Galaxy and Eisbären Berlin; Ticketing through AXS, a global platform delivering ticketing solutions for venues of all sizes, sports franchises and event organizers; and Global Partnerships, which oversees worldwide sales and servicing of sponsorships including naming rights, premium seating and other strategic partnerships. Through its worldwide network of venues, portfolio of powerful sports and music brands and its integrated entertainment districts, AEG entertains more than 160 million guests annually. More information about AEG can be found at www.aegworldwide.com.