Annual preseason tournament moving to Barclays Center in Brooklyn

The NIT Season Tip-Off will move to Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y., beginning in 2015. Operated by ESPN Events, the preseason tournament will feature Arkansas, Georgia Tech, Stanford and Villanova leading up to the semifinals on Thursday, Nov. 26 and the title game on Friday, Nov. 27 – to be aired across ESPN2 and ESPNU.

The 2015 format will feature eight Division I programs – the four home teams of Arkansas, Georgia Tech, Stanford and Villanova will each host two designated campus-site teams prior to traveling to Brooklyn. The four campus-site teams will be Akron, Charleston Southern, East Tennessee State and Green Bay.

Tickets for the NIT Season Tip-Off at Barclays Center will go on sale Friday, August 21 at 10 a.m. and can be purchased via Ticketmaster by visiting www.barclayscenter.com, or www.ticketmaster.com, or by calling 800-745-3000. Tickets are also available at the American Express Box Office at Barclays Center beginning Saturday, August 22 at noon. Tickets are available for groups by calling 855-GROUP-BK.

The NIT Season Tip-Off in 2016 and 2018 will also be held at Barclays Center. The 2017 event is scheduled for Nassau Coliseum on Long Island, which will soon be renovated by Bruce Ratner and Nassau Events Center (NEC), the same management team behind Barclays Center.

“The NIT Season Tip-Off has a rich tradition and is a great addition to our BROOKLYN HOOPS college basketball platform,” said Barclays Center CEO Brett Yormark. “This alliance gives us the opportunity to host this premier preseason tournament at Nassau Coliseum after the renovation is completed.”

Championship Round Team Highlights

• Stanford captured the 2015 NIT title as the No. 2 seed, upsetting No. 1 seed ODU in the semis
• Villanova claimed both the BIG EAST regular-season and tournament titles en route to a No. 1 seed in the 2015 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship
• As a No. 5 seed, Arkansas advanced to the NCAA Championship third round, the team’s first overall berth since 2008
• Georgia Tech returns 10 letterwinners to its roster in 2015-16 and adds three transfer players with eligibility this season

NIT Season Tip-Off – Campus Site Games (Schedule subject to change)

NIT Season Tip-Off – Championship Round Games at Barclays Center (Schedule subject to change)

The NIT Season Tip-Off is a continuation of the annual preseason event that has been played at MSG since 1985. NIT Season Tip-Off historical information

ESPN Events
ESPN Events, a division of ESPN, owns and operates a large portfolio of collegiate sporting events worldwide. The roster includes three Labor Day weekend college football games; 13 college bowl games, 10 college basketball events and two college award shows, which accounts for approximately 250-plus hours of programming, reaches almost 64 million viewers and attracts over 700,000 attendees each year. With satellite offices in Boca Raton, Boise, Birmingham, Dallas-Fort Worth, Albuquerque, St. Petersburg and Las Vegas, ESPN Events builds relationships with conferences, schools and local communities, as well as providing unique experiences for teams and fans.

ESPN Events also manages the Big 12 Corporate Partner Program.

Collegiate Football
AdvoCare Texas Kickoff (Houston); AdvoCare V100 Texas Bowl (Houston); Birmingham Bowl (Alabama); Boca Raton Bowl (Florida); Celebration Bowl (Atlanta); Famous Idaho Potato Bowl (Boise); Gildan New Mexico Bowl (Albuquerque); Hawai’i Bowl (Honolulu); Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl (Dallas-Fort Worth); MEAC/SWAC Challenge presented by Disney (Orlando, Fla.); Orlando Kickoff (Florida); Popeyes Bahamas Bowl (Nassau); Raycom Media Camellia Bowl (Montgomery, Ala.); Royal Purple Las Vegas Bowl (Nevada); St. Petersburg Bowl (Florida); The Home Depot College Football Awards (Atlanta) and Zaxby’s Heart of Dallas Bowl (Dallas-Fort Worth)

Collegiate Basketball
AdvoCare Invitational (Walt Disney World Resort near Orlando, Fla.); Armed Forces Classic (Marine Corps Base Camp Smedley D. Butler, Okinawa, Japan); DIRECTV Wooden Legacy (Orange County, Calif.); College Basketball Awards Presented by Wendy’s (Los Angeles); Gildan Charleston Classic (South Carolina); Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic (Honolulu); Jimmy V Men’s Classic Presented by Corona (New York City); Jimmy V Women’s Classic Presented by Corona (Hartford/Storrs, Conn.); NIT Season Tip-Off (Brooklyn, N.Y.); Puerto Rico Tip-Off (San Juan) and State Farm Champions Classic (Chicago)

For more information, visit the official website, Facebook, Twitter or YouTube pages.

About Barclays Center
Barclays Center opened on September 28, 2012, and is a major sports and entertainment venue in the heart of Brooklyn, New York. One of the most intimate seating configurations ever designed into a modern multi-purpose arena, Barclays Center offers 17,732 seats for basketball, 15,795 for hockey, and up to 19,000 seats for concerts, and has 101 luxury suites, four bars/lounges, four clubs, and 40/40 CLUB & Restaurant by American Express.

Barclays Center hosts an extensive variety of events, including premier concerts, major professional boxing cards, top college basketball, family shows, the Brooklyn Nets and soon the New York Islanders.

Barclays Center has redefined the arena customer service and culinary experience. Its more than 2,000 employees are trained by Disney Institute, the business advisory arm of The Walt Disney Company, and its BrooklynTaste™ food program features selections from 55 well-known restaurants and vendors in the borough.

Barclays Center engages the customer with state-of-the-art technology to enhance the fan experience. As the first arena in the world to utilize Cisco StadiumVision mobile multicast streaming technology, Barclays Center allows fans to watch live video and instant replays from their mobile phones while connected to the arena’s free Wi-Fi.

Located atop one of the largest transportation hubs in New York City, Barclays Center is accessible by 11 subway lines, the Long Island Rail Road, and 11 bus lines.

For more information on Barclays Center, please visit www.barclayscenter.com

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