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Before ACC tournament play begins this year, players will have access to an online gift suite.
Photo by: GETTY IMAGES |
They aren’t yet as synonymous as they’ve become with bowl games, but gift suites are becoming an increasing part of college basketball’s tournament season.
Over the past decade, the gift suite concept has become one of the more popular methods for bowl game organizers to distribute items of apparel, technology, luggage and jewelry to players participating in the games. Players get firsthand shopping experiences — with the available products set up in a room for them to check out — and they can select any number of gifts up to a predetermined value as set by the NCAA.
This past season, 25 bowl games offered such suites.
This month, as March Madness ramps up, the SEC plans to offer a gift suite at both its men’s basketball tournament in Nashville and its women’s tournament in Jacksonville. Nine other conferences are offering an online formof gift suite — where players are able to make selections across about three weeks’ time in advance of the tournaments, doing so online. That’s the highest number of conferences ever to extend such offers and is up from six conferences last year.
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Gifts range from apparel products to smartwatches and Apple TVs.
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The products vary by conference, but the gift-giving opportunity is the same for all. According to NCAA rules, players can receive both participation and championship gifts — for basketball, football and for other sports. The value of the gifts that the players receive can vary between seniors and underclassmen, and gifts can be provided by both a player’s school and the school’s conference, in addition to the NCAA providing gifts to athletes who compete in season-ending national tournaments.
By the time this year’s college basketball national champions are crowned, a player on a team that runs the table and wins championships for the regular season, the school’s postseason conference tournament and the NCAA tournament could secure a total gift haul valued at more than $3,100.
All 3,300 participants in the men’s and women’s NCAA national basketball tournaments this year will receive a Fossil watch for their participation. For the participants on the eight teams that reach the Final Four, their watches will feature a Final Four logo. Those Final Four participants will receive additional gifts as well.
According to a spokesman at the Mountain West Conference, the top four items selected in that conference’s online gift suite this year were, in order: Apple TV with HDMI cable and a Brookstone cable organizer; Bose SoundLink Bluetooth speaker; Beats by Dre Tour headphones; and a Michael Kors Jet Set East/West Crossbody bag. The conference’s gift suite was put together and run by GoldnerSports.
Among other findings from this year’s tally of gifts:
■ Under Armour items will appear in at least five conference gift packages, matching the combined total of 2013 and 2014.
■ For the second straight year, Beats by Dre is the brand most offered among gift selections. Its various headphones will appear in eight conference-level offerings, matching last year’s total.
