Dubai to host new early-season tournament

By JAMES MADDEN

Dubai is set to host college basketball’s newest early-season tournament: The Royal Palm Invitational, which will debut next season. CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein first reported the news on Thursday.

The event is reportedly expecting “multiple power conference teams” to be involved.

Sources: The Royal Palm Invitational — a new early season tournament in college basketball — will debut in Dubai in November of 2026.

Multiple power conference teams are expected to be involved.

— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) December 4, 2025

This announcement comes as teams are becoming more focused on incentive-based early-season tournaments, with some teams already expressing interest in playing in next season’s Players Era Festival.

More detailed framework has yet to be announced, but these games would be the first NCAA basketball regular season games in Asia since 2015, when Washington defeated Texas 77-71 in Shanghai, China.

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