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NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE - JANUARY 27: Mark Pope of the Kentucky Wildcats watches from the sideline against the Vanderbilt Commodores in the first half at Vanderbilt University Memorial Gymnasium on January 27, 2026 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Carly Mackler/Getty Images) | Getty Images
This spring, the NCAA passed a rule that allows men’s and women’s college basketball programs to participate in an international summer trip every year, rather than just one every four years.
These trips are important because they allow teams to have extra practice time, face true competition, and build team chemistry. For fans, the trips offer a unique experience: traveling with the team or watching them on TV, building excitement for the upcoming season.
In his first press conference of the summer, Mark Pope talked about his hope for an additional rule change to summer trips, allowing them to be done in the states.
“There is one of the things that we’re excited about, potentially coming down the pipeline that we’ve been pushing for, is now we’re allowed to take international trips every single year. We’d like to actually make that something that could be done domestically,” Pope said.
Pope argues that this is a way to bring more attention to college basketball in the summer.
“We’re always trying to take up windows of time with college basketball, in terms of the way we are in the public sphere, and I hope that that change goes through,” he said. “The opportunities that we’re exploring right now with that would be game-changing. I’m hopeful.”
There is also a financial aspect to this.
Foreign trips cost money for the program and the fans. Typically, a program works with the resort or tour operator at a discounted rate, as they aim to make more money from fans’ travel. Yet, there is still a cost, and in a college landscape where money is at a premium and needed to be competitive, every dollar counts. Cost was even something mentioned when Mark Pope was asked about why Kentucky did not take a summer trip this offseason.
If a summer trip can be done domestically, that first reduces the cost for the program and, second, eases the barrier of entry for fans.
Let’s say Kentucky can organize or join a multi-team event in Indianapolis. This is close enough for many Kentucky fans to travel at a lower cost than, let’s say, the Bahamas, increasing ticket sales. There is also potential for TV deals. In short, increased revenue and reduced costs.
At the end of the day, Pope is just asking for more freedom for summer trips. In turn, that would mean more accessible summer college basketball.
“If you talk to the guys on our team, they would like more time on the court together and with us. They like more opportunities to play more games,” Pope said. “Our staff feels the same way. I think that’s probably a common theme throughout college basketball. So the more freedom we have to actually get work done, I think the better.”
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