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Long considered the premier “multi-team event� in college basketball, the Maui Invitational uniquely combines luxurious resorts along an idyllic beach with a frenzied environment inside the tiny Lahaina Civic Center on a volcanic hillside, all within steps of the Pacific Ocean.

A pre-event luau, on the sprawling lawns leading up to Kaanapali Beach, welcomes participants, while what are usually some of the sport’s top programs can arrive early or stay late to give players, many of whom have never visited Hawaii, a chance to experience the picturesque setting.

The Wildcats even spent Thanksgiving Day on Maui after winning the 2022 event, chartering a boat for snorkeling, swimming or just hanging out.

"Anytime you get over to a place like this, why rush leaving?� Lloyd said during that trip.

It's basketball paradise, basically.

But the Maui Invitational, and other premier Thanksgiving week events, such as the Battle 4 Atlantis in the Bahamas, face extinction if the Players Era Festival in Las Vegas keeps on its path unabated.

Paying teams $1 million each to participate, and announcing a deal that will include eight top Big 12 teams annually starting next season, the Players Era Festival is quickly becoming the MTE of choice.

Because, in this financially driven era of college basketball, there may be no choice.

While UA coach Tommy Lloyd says the Wildcats remain committed to playing in Maui next season, Houston is playing in the Players Era Festival this week for the second straight year, as it jumped from eight to 18 teams ... while the 2025 Maui field is notably weaker than normal.

“We didn't sign up for this to have a tournament where we could play each other. We signed up for this because they're giving us $1 million,� Cougars coach Kelvin Sampson said, according to ESPN. “If they decided to put a court down at some vacant lot and they'd give us $1 million, I'd go play there, too.�

Same likely goes for other Big 12 programs. If Colorado finishes in the conference's top eight, Buffaloes coach Tad Boyle said he'd "definitely" want to play in the event, too.

"College basketball continues to change," Boyle told . "College athletics continues to change. We’ll continue to change. This is just part of that change.

"The non-Players Era MTEs are going to have to be flexible, or they’re going to have to get creative and try to generate a little bit more revenue to share with the teams. That’s just the way it’s gone.

“It’s a cash crunch right now in college athletics. Talk to any athletic director.�

Dollars over tradition. It's the same driving force that arguably killed off Cinderella in last season’s NCAA Tournament.

There were no mid-major teams reaching even the Sweet 16 last season, with their top talents often having been peeled off by high-major programs with help from their NIL collectives. One example: Arizona’s Trey Townsend, who led Oakland to a first-round upset of Kentucky in 2024 but opted instead to play a role for the Wildcats’ Sweet 16 team last season.

NIL payments were uncapped until the House settlement was signed last spring, but making payments a little trickier now, the Players Era is still expected to flow through its seven-figure compensation packages to schools and, eventually, players.

The Athletic reported that Players Era payments will be run through the NIL Go clearinghouse, while CBS reported that schools can receive the payments one of three ways: To its collective, which can then pay players; directly to players for NIL activities related to the event; or to the schools' revenue-sharing pools if there is room under their $20.5 million caps.

Announced earlier this week, the Players Era deal with the Big 12 will guarantee the conference's top eight finishers from the previous season automatic bids, meaning $1 million for each team, each year, if the Players Era continues paying out what it did last year.

That compares to $25,000 plus travel costs that Arizona received for participating in the Battle 4 Atlantis last season, and the even smaller benefits the Maui Invitational is known to provide.

A CBS Sports report says the Players Era won't be paying all teams $1 million next year, when it will balloon from 18 to 32 teams, but Players Era CEO Seth Berger said the event will commit “no less than $50 million� to Big 12 programs in rights fees over the next six years.

There's more than money involved, too. This year's games will be played at Las Vegas' MGM Grand Garden and Michelob Ultra Arena, more accessible to most teams and fans alike than the Maui Civic Center,  with all games shown on TNT or TruTV.

"The tournament is a tremendous platform to showcase our conference, student-athletes and coaches as the best in college basketball," Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark said, "and we look forward to continuing to make Players Era a national marquee event."

But the Big 12 may not have at least one of its marquee teams in the Players Era event next season. Lloyd said Arizona remains under contract to Maui and intends to go, though he said he’s aware the landscape is changing fast.

“I guess some of these tournaments are going to have to adjust,� Lloyd said. “We know how many changes have happened the last one, two, three, four years, so I’m not gonna prognosticate on what I think is going to happen, because it really doesn't matter.

“But there’s something special about the tournament in Maui, and we signed up for it years ago, before we knew what modern-day NCAA basketball looked like.�

Maybe starting next season or in future years, the Maui Invitational secures a partner or other funding source that allows it to match the Players Era Festival’s financial allure, keeping the Wildcats and other top programs coming back.

Or maybe basketball paradise just dries up.