Exhibition games are about to be more accessible to college basketball fans after the Division I Men’s Basketball Oversight Committee relaxed its restrictions regarding preseason contests with the approval of a new proposal Tuesday.
The new legislation, which is set to begin with the 2025-26 season, will grant teams the option to schedule up to two preseason exhibition games against any four-year school, including Division I teams, without the need to sign a waiver. Additionally, the proposal will allow teams to decide for themselves how they want to share the revenue generated from those exhibition games. All the funds from previous preseason contests went to charity, like Gonzaga’s friendly against USC in Palm Desert, California, on Oct. 26.
While that game against the Trojans was available for fans to stream, not all of the Bulldogs’ preseason friendlies have been made public in the past. That could also change, though, thanks to the new ruling that also eliminates the requirement that preseason practice scrimmages be conducted in private and without official scoring.
Gonzaga held a private scrimmage with Baylor down in Phoenix, Arizona, prior to the start of the 2023-24 season. Nolan Hickman and Anton Watson scored 17 points apiece to lead the Zags past the Bears in a narrow 81-78 win.
Along with this new rule, the NCAA is set to introduce a new revenue-sharing model that will allow schools to share up to $20.5 million with their student-athletes across all sports, as part of the multibillion-dollar agreement to settle the House v. NCAA case.
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