INDIANAPOLIS – Gonzaga point guard Jalen Suggs’ 40-foot buzzer-beater to top UCLA on Saturday night in the Final Four provided a generational moment for the NCAA tournament. It electrified Twitter, prompted countless TikTok re-enactments and will live forever in highlight reels.
As college athletics and the NCAA tournament sit on the precipice of unprecedented change in the next year, Suggs’ shot raises a new question for the collegiate sporting landscape: How much is a moment like that worth? And how could the next epic buzzer-beater be monetized as NCAA sports are on the cusp of an era of athletes being allowed to profit off their Name, Image and Likeness?