The Basketball Tournament is back.
The high-stakes tournament returns for a ninth consecutive year, beginning on July 16th.
If you aren't familiar with The Basketball Tournament, it is a 64-team, single-elimination tournament – like March Madness – except games are not timed. The Basketball Tournament uses an Elam Ending – which the NBA adopted from TBT for its All-Star Game – to assure that every contest ends on a game-winning bucket.
Teams are packed with former NBA players and college stars, all competing to win the grand prize.
But what is the prize for winning The Basketball Tournament? Find out below.
How much do the winners of The Basketball Tournament make?
The "team prize" for the winners of The Basketball Tournament is $1 million. The Basketball Tournament is winner-take-all, meaning if you're not first, you're last.
The second-place team goes home with $0, while the winning team divvies up the $1 million amongst themselves.
Rosters range from seven players to 12 players, so the amount of money each individual player makes depends on the number of players on the roster.
Teams are also allowed to donate the money to a charity of their choosing, and some teams even honor certain causes with their team name, such as Sideline Cancer, Defeat Diabetes and Team Challenge ALS, to name a few.
How to watch The Basketball Tournament
- When: July 16th through August 2nd
- Where: Multiple different regions
- TV Channel: ESPN Networks
- Streaming: ESPN app | Sling TV
The Basketball Tournament will be televised on ESPN's family of networks: ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN3, ESPNU and the ESPN app. You can also stream The Basketball Tournament on Sling TV, the official streaming partner of TBT.
Viewers who sign up for Sling TV get half off the first month with no long-term contracts. Watch The Basketball Tournament live on ESPN and enjoy access to sports programming on the ESPN family of networks.
The Basketball Tournament winners by year
Five different teams have been crowned champions in The Basketball Tournament's eight-year history. You can find each of them below, along with the tournament MVP for each year.
| Year | Winner | Runner-Up | MVP |
| 2014 | Notre Dame Fighting Alumni | Team Barstool | Tyrone Nash |
| 2015 | Overseas Elite | Team 23 | DJ Kennedy |
| 2016 | Overseas Elite | Team Colorado | Kyle Fogg |
| 2017 | Overseas Elite | Team Challenge ALS | Kyle Fogg |
| 2018 | Overseas Elite | Eberlein Drive | DJ Kennedy |
| 2019 | Carmen's Crew | Golden Eagles | William Buford |
| 2020 | Golden Eagles | Sideline Cancer | Darius Johnson-Odom |
| 2021 | Boeheim's Army | Team 23 | Tyrese Rice |
