If you ca n’t get invited to the glamorous party, the next best thing might be to throw it yourself.
So it goes for Pepperdine, whose consistently earn- starved men’s basketball team has n’t made it to the NCAA Tournament in more than two years. True to form, the Waves finished 13- 20 this year, far beyond the approach of any post- time thought.
But the Malibu, Calif. based class is once again present—and at times, depending on the spread camera perspective, prominent—at this week’s NCAA Tournament game at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. After hosting a Sweet 16 mock at this very same place, then known as Staples Center, in 2018, Pepperdine will function as the school network for the NCAA men’s basketball West Regional for the second time in the last dozen years.

Home to the Los Angeles Lakers and Clippers, Crypto.com Arena’s relationship to Pepperdine is weak at best. In that area, the university has not actually played basketball. The Waves’ on- school service, the 3, 104- chair Rubber Fieldhouse, is much more tantamount to a great school gymnasium than an NBA arena. ( It’s also nearly 7, 000 seats short of the NCAA’s baseline capacity for an NCAA Tournament venue. )
Despite this, Pepperdine has continued to be the party-goer in downtown LA, a position that is shunned by the state’s more renowned and near Power Five programs, USC and UCLA.
The gig comes with a standard,$ 200, 000 honorarium—the NCAA offers up to$ 300, 000 if you’re hosting at your on- campus venue—and some strategic arena signage. A blog network can be a college, a meeting, or a combination thereof. In addition to Pepperdine, the visitors of this year’s qualifiers are Boston College, Detroit Mercy/Oakland and the Big 12 Conference. The total payment remains the same regardless of whether a conference or a college is administering the money, or whether it is a first/second round or a geographical round.
The Los Angeles Sports and Entertainment Commission ( LASEC ), the organization tasked with bringing significant sporting events to Los Angeles, has a history that dates back to 2008, when Karina Herold was employed there. UCLA was just coming off back-to-back Final Four performances at the time, whereas USC had only just advanced to the Sweet 16. After both of those institutions rejected her suggestion to submit a bid to host the March Madness, she discovered a much more willing partner up the Pacific Coast Highway. Among other things, Pepperdine had connections with Anschutz Entertainment Group ( AEG), the Staples Center’s owner.
” There was n’t a lot of discussion”, said Pepperdine athletic director Steve Potts. ” To both of us it seemed,’ Sure, why certainly?'”
The remuneration, Potts recalled, was next$ 400, 000.
” We thought, gosh, this is the biggest charity we will have all time”, said Potts. However, the payment was reduced by half halfway through the buying process, which somewhat dampened Pepperdine’s interest—but only significantly.

” For a school ( Pepperdine’s ) size, that is a good number”, said Herold. The private school reported a men’s baseball income of$ 4.2 million, roughly a fourth of what UCLA brings in, in its most recent publication to the Department of Education.
Potts claimed that while the network does have some costs, the majority of them have been covered by the NCAA. After going through the 2008 buying approach, Pepperdine was first awarded having responsibilities for the 2013 men’s event.
In 2011, Herold left LASEC to meet Pepperdine’s sport office, gradually rising to become its assistant director of sports and top women’s executive. With her in tow, the school continued to pursue—and win—tourney hosting duties for the NCAA West Regional in 2015, 2018 and 2020, the latter of which ended up canceled due to the COVID- 19 pandemic.
For an off- campus venue like Crypto.com Arena, the site host is entitled to display a small number of ad signs, given the NCAA’s prior approval. Herold claims that LED displays are typically meant to be placed in locations where they ca n’t be seen on camera. However, Pepperdine was able to move its arena signage above the four team tunnels in 2018, where the broadcast audience might occasionally see them.
Additionally, the host is recognized on a vinyl banner that runs along the “non- TV side” of the court, and a secondary logo inscribed on the two baselines of the court, close to the team benches.
Over the years, Pepperdine has discovered other ways to maximize the potential of an event, which Herold describes as a “laboratory for students.”
For example, about 50 Pepperdine seniors pursuing a sports administration major will staff this weekend’s games as part of a capstone course.
Herold left Pepperdine in 2020 to return to LASEC, and she began her career as the Bay Area Host Committee’s chief operating officer at the start of this year. Although she may now pursue a tourney bid for San Francisco, that should n’t necessarily conflict with Pepperdine’s efforts in Los Angeles.
The Intuit Dome, the team’s future home, is a potential threat to the Waves ‘ future, which is scheduled to open in August.
The$ 2 billion venue, which is being privately financed by Clippers owner Steve Ballmer, is already slated to host the 2026 NBA All- Star Game. It is also located just six miles from the campus of Loyola Marymount University, one of Pepperdine’s West Coast Conference foes. A Loyola Marymount representative did not respond to a request for comment regarding whether the institution was interested in pursuing a hosting bid.
In February, bid responses were due for the 2027 and 2028 NCAA champion site selection campaign, with the hosts and cites set to be announced in October. Once more, peppermintine has its use and is brimming with confidence.
” People in Indianapolis may not want to admit it]publicly ] but they will admit to us that ours is the best run regional in the country”, said Potts.
That’s an NCAA tourney win of a certain kind.