The Basketball Tournament Inks 2-Year Deal With Fox And Changes Format

BusinessSportsMoneyThe Basketball Tournament Inks 2-Year Deal With Fox And Changes FormatByTim Casey,Senior Contributor.Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. Tim Casey is a reporter who covers basketball and sports business.Follow AuthorMay 21, 2026, 06:00am EDTSyracuse's Buddy Boeheim (35) leaves the floor in the final minutes of the second half of an NCAA college basketball game against Florida State during the Atlantic Coast Conference men's tournament, Wednesday, March 9, 2022, in New York. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.Since founding The Basketball Tournament (TBT) in 2014, Jon Mugar has made small tweaks to its format. This year, TBT is undergoing its biggest change, even as the event recently secured a two-year media rights extension with Fox Sports that should keep it nationally relevant in a crowded sports landscape.The 2026 version of TBT will have 16 teams, down from 64 in recent years. And it will no longer be a true single-elimination format, as the first round will feature four best-of-three games series with eight college alumni teams. The other eight teams will each pay an entrance fee of $125,000 to $250,000 to participate and compete in Las Vegas.The winner of the alumni bracket will host the non-alumni winner in the championship game on Aug. 2 on Fox. The prize money has doubled from $1 million to $2 million, as well, with the winning team splitting the money and no other team getting paid, as has been the case since the event’s inception.“It’s really the evolution of the product and what's resonating with fans,” said Mugar, a former comedy writer who is currently CEO of Mugar Enterprises, Inc., a company that has investments in commercial real estate and entertainment assets. “We’re constantly making adjustments to the product and ditching what doesn't work and leaning into what does work.”When Mugar launched TBT, it was a novel concept in the...