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FOX Sports and AEG Announce Official Dates for the 2026 College Basketball Crown With Elite Eight-Team Field

Tournament to air on FOX and FS1 from April 1鈥�5 in Las Vegas

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Following a hugely successful inaugural tournament, FOX Sports and AEG today announced the official dates for the 2026 College Basketball Crown. The elite post-season college hoops tournament delivered compelling matchups, impressive viewership and a captivating championship run by Nebraska 鈥� becoming a must-see competition showcasing elite programs that narrowly miss NCAA Tournament selection.

In 2026, the College Basketball Crown will take place April 1鈥�5 at both the MGM Grand Garden Arena as well as T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, and air on FOX and FS1. Year two features a newly streamlined eight-team field and continued support from its first-year brand partners.

The 2026 field will feature the top two teams from the Big Ten, Big 12, and BIG EAST conferences that do not receive NCAA Tournament bids, plus two wild card teams selected by committee. The 2026 College Basketball Crown quarterfinals will take place Wednesday, April 1 and Thursday, April 2 at MGM Grand Garden Arena, with T-Mobile Arena hosting the semifinals Saturday, April 4 and the championship matchup Sunday, April 5.

鈥淲e launched the College Basketball Crown to create more opportunities for elite competition during the thrilling college basketball post-season 鈥� and we saw an incredible response from fans, conferences, and players for the inaugural tournament,鈥� said Jordan Bazant, Executive Vice President, FOX Sports, and board member of the College Basketball Crown. 鈥淲e look forward to building on that momentum this spring by delivering high stakes matchups between top teams throughout the competition on FOX and FS1.鈥�

The new eight-team format reflects a strategic refinement, designed to deliver stronger matchups, enhanced fan experiences, and continued commercial success across every stage of the tournament.

鈥淭he College Basketball Crown has already proven to be a premium, athlete-first post-season platform that delivers for schools, our brand partners, and fans,鈥� said Nick Baker, President and COO of AEG Global Partnerships and board member of the College Basketball Crown. 鈥淲e鈥檙e proud to continue this tournament alongside FOX Sports and our partners and we look forward to raising the bar once again in 2026 with top-tier talent, world-class venues, and continued innovation.鈥�

Additionally, inaugural-year partners are continuing their support for the 2026 tournament, including:

• Vivid Seats 鈥� Official Ticketing Provider
• 骋贬翱厂罢庐 鈥� Founding Partner and Official Energy Drink and Hydration Partner
• JSX 鈥� Founding Partner and Official Air Carrier
• Circa Resort & Casino 鈥� Founding Partner and Official Host Hotel
• MGM Resorts International 鈥� Official Partner

The College Basketball Crown also continues to drive innovation in name, image, and likeness (NIL) opportunities for student-athletes, with new enhancements expected to be announced in the lead-up to next year鈥檚 tournament.

Additional announcements regarding ticket sales, broadcast talent, new partners, team selection and more will follow in the coming months.

For more information on the College Basketball Crown, visit: .

ABOUT THE COLLEGE BASKETBALL CROWN

Launched by FOX Sports and AEG, the College Basketball Crown is a premier post-season college basketball tournament that debuted in March 2025 in Las Vegas at MGM Grand Garden Arena and T-Mobile Arena. Featuring elite teams from the Big Ten, Big 12, BIG EAST, and additional at-large participants, the tournament offers a new and highly competitive post-season opportunity for student-athletes and fans alike.

Key partners of the inaugural College Basketball Crown include:

• Vivid Seats 鈥� Official Ticketing Provider
• 骋贬翱厂罢庐 鈥� Founding Partner; Official Energy Drink and Hydration Partner
• JSX 鈥� Founding Partner; Official Air Carrier
• Circa Resort & Casino 鈥� Founding Partner; Official Host Hotel
• MGM Resorts International 鈥� Official Partner

For more information on the College Basketball Crown, visit: .

About AEG

Headquartered in Los Angeles, California, AEG is the world鈥檚 leading sports and live entertainment company. The company operates in the following business segments:

• Music through AEG Presents, which is dedicated to all aspects of live contemporary music performances, including the production and promotion of global and regional concert tours, an extensive portfolio of clubs, theaters and other music venues, concerts and special events and world-renowned festivals such as the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival;
• Venues and AG真人官方 Estate, which develops, owns and operates world-class venues, as well as major sports and entertainment districts like Crypto.com Arena and L.A. LIVE, Uber Platz in Berlin and The O2 in London;
• Sports, as the world鈥檚 largest operator of high-profile sporting events and sports franchises including the LA Kings, LA Galaxy and Eisb盲ren Berlin;
• Global Partnerships, which oversees worldwide sales and servicing of sponsorships including naming rights, premium seating, and other strategic partnerships.
• And Ticketing, through its AXS.com ticketing platform, which provides more than 400 clients worldwide with ticketing services that cover the gamut of entertainments, including sporting events, arena tours, music clubs, festivals, rodeos and family events.

Through its worldwide network of venues, portfolio of powerful sports and music brands and its integrated entertainment districts, AEG entertains more than 90 million guests annually. More information about AEG can be found at .

About FOX Sports

FOX Sports is the umbrella entity representing Fox Corporation鈥檚 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鈥� 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. Also included in FOX Sports鈥� portfolio are FOX鈥檚 interests in joint-venture businesses Big Ten Network and the UFL and a licensing agreement that established the FOX Sports Radio Network.

T-Mobile Arena

T-Mobile Arena, the 20,000-seat venue located on the Las Vegas Strip between Park MGM and New York-New York, opened April 6, 2016. The arena hosts more than 100 events annually including major headline entertainment, awards shows, UFC, boxing, basketball and other sporting events, family shows and special events. T-Mobile Arena also is the home of the Vegas Golden Knights, a National Hockey League expansion team and the city鈥檚 first professional sports team, as well as UFC鈥檚 exclusive Las Vegas arena destination. The venue, named the No. 1 venue on Billboard Magazine鈥檚 2018 Arena Power List as well as the 鈥淏est New Major Concert Venue鈥� by Pollstar Magazine in 2016, features 50 luxury suites, more than two dozen private loge boxes, complete broadcast facilities, and other specially designed exclusive hospitality offerings and fan amenities destined to create a guest experience second to none. Toshiba Plaza, an adjacent two-acre outdoor entertainment space, features performance stages, a variety of video screens and other interactive content and display areas. Designed and built to prioritize environmental sustainability, T-Mobile Arena was awarded Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design庐 (LEED) Gold certification by the U.S. Green Building Council in 2016. T-Mobile Arena is a privately funded joint venture between AEG and MGM Resorts International (NYSE: MGM). For more information, visit or follow on , and .

About MGM Grand Garden Arena

The MGM Grand Garden Arena is home to concerts, championship boxing and premier sporting and special events. The Arena offers comfortable seating for as many as 16,800 with excellent sightlines and state-of-the-art acoustics, lighting and sound. Prominent events to date have included world championship fights between Evander Holyfield and Mike Tyson as well as Floyd Mayweather vs. Canelo Alvarez as well as Floyd Mayweather vs. Manny Pacquiao; and concerts by The Rolling Stones, Madonna, Elton John, Bruce Springsteen, Paul McCartney, Bette Midler, George Strait, Justin Timberlake, Beyonce, U2, Lady Gaga, Bruno Mars, Coldplay, Alicia Keys, Jimmy Buffett and the Barbra Streisand Millennium Concert. The MGM Grand Garden Arena also has been home to annual events including the Academy of Country Music Awards, the Billboard Music Awards, the Latin GRAMMY Awards, iHeartRadio Music Festival, Pac-12 Men鈥檚 Basketball Championship and Frozen Fury NHL pre-season games hosted by the Los Angeles Kings.

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Media Contacts

Michael Roth, AEG

[email protected]

Shannon Donnelly, AEG Global Partnerships

[email protected]

Anne Pennington, FOX Sports

[email protected]

Source: AEG