The Players Era Women’s Basketball Showcase brings six of the biggest brands in women’s college basketball — South Carolina, Notre Dame, Duke, Texas, UCLA and USC — to Michelob ULTRA Arena at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas for a two-day, six-game showcase on Saturday, December 19 and Sunday, December 20, 2026. Session 1 tips off Saturday at 3:00 PM Pacific with Duke vs Texas, and every session pairs national-title contenders — there is not a weak matchup on the schedule.
Players Era has quickly become one of the signature properties on the college basketball calendar, and the women’s showcase gets the full weekend treatment: three games a day, back to back, in one of the best basketball rooms in Las Vegas. Six elite programs, two days, one arena — if you make one hoops trip this winter, this is the one.
Date, time and game schedule
- What: Players Era Women’s Basketball Showcase — two sessions, six games
- When — Session 1, Saturday, December 19, 2026: Duke vs Texas at 3:00 PM, UCLA vs South Carolina at 5:30 PM, Notre Dame vs USC at 8:00 PM (all times Pacific)
- When — Session 2, Sunday, December 20, 2026: Texas vs UCLA at 2:00 PM, Notre Dame vs South Carolina at 4:30 PM, USC vs Duke at 7:00 PM (all times Pacific)
- Where: Michelob ULTRA Arena, Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, 3950 South Las Vegas Boulevard, Las Vegas, NV 89119
- Tickets: All-Tournament Pass (all six games) and session tickets via AXS, the official seller linked from the Mandalay Bay / MGM Resorts entertainment listing
About the showcase
Per the official venue listing, Players Era returns with the Women’s Basketball Showcase, a marquee two-day women’s college basketball tournament bringing together South Carolina, Notre Dame, Duke, Texas, UCLA and USC. It is a genuinely loaded field: South Carolina and Notre Dame are perennial Final Four programs, Duke and Texas bring two of the nation’s toughest defenses, and the UCLA–USC pairing gives the weekend a built-in rivalry game on Sunday night to close the show.
The format rewards fans who stay all day. Saturday’s tripleheader runs from mid-afternoon into the night, and Sunday’s session starts at 2:00 PM, so a weekend pass delivers six high-major games in roughly thirty hours — more top-level basketball in one trip than most fans see in a month.
The venue
Michelob ULTRA Arena is the 12,000-seat arena inside Mandalay Bay at the south end of the Strip — home of the WNBA’s Las Vegas Aces and the same floor that hosts the Players Era men’s events in November. The compact bowl keeps even upper-level seats close to the court, sightlines are clean from every section, and the concourse is a short walk from Mandalay Bay’s casino floor, restaurants and the Mandalay Bay Beach complex.
Tickets
Tickets are sold through AXS, the official seller for Michelob ULTRA Arena, via the Mandalay Bay and MGM Resorts entertainment pages. The All-Tournament Pass covers all six games across both sessions and is the best value if you are in town for the weekend; single-session tickets are also listed for Saturday or Sunday only. Buy through the official AXS event listing to make sure you are paying face value rather than a resale markup, and note that this showcase was announced with team presale offers, so the best lower-bowl seats may move early.
Getting to Michelob ULTRA Arena
Mandalay Bay stands at 3950 South Las Vegas Boulevard, at the south end of the Strip near Russell Road. The free Mandalay Bay Tram connects the resort with Luxor and Excalibur, and the RTC Deuce bus runs the length of the Strip around the clock. Drivers can use the Mandalay Bay parking garage, accessible from Las Vegas Boulevard and Frank Sinatra Drive, and rideshare pickup is at the resort’s designated area near the main entrance. Plan to arrive before the first tip each day — with three games a day, the garage and security lines build quickly ahead of the opening game.
More Las Vegas events
Planning the rest of your trip? Browse the latest concerts, sports and shows on the Vegas Events Today homepage.
A December hoops weekend, Vegas style
December in Las Vegas is packed — holiday residencies, rodeo crowds and bowl-season energy — but a six-game weekend of elite women’s basketball at Mandalay Bay is its own excuse for a trip. Book the pass, settle in for three games a day, and you will watch six of the sport’s flagship programs share one floor in a single weekend.