A total of 24 million people watched the NCAA Women’s Basketball National Championship between the South Carolina Gamecocks and the Iowa Hawkeyes in 2024. In the same year, the men’s championship had an average of 18.7 million viewers.
On Jan. 15 at the NCAA Convention, it was decided that, for the first time, women’s basketball teams will be paid for their participation in the NCAA’s postseason tournament, commonly known as ‘March Madness.’
Men’s teams have been compensated for their NCAA tournament participation for years. Men’s teams have been paid ‘performance units,’ which represent revenue, for every game they have played in the NCAA tournament according to the Olympics.
With this monumental decision, female teams now function under the same pay structures their male counterparts benefit from. Starting this year, a performance unit with a fund total of $15 million will be distributed to women’s teams that participate in the March Madness tournament. The biggest long-term profit will be awarded to the Final Four contenders.
According to the Olympics, a women’s team that reaches the Final Four this year could bring its conference up to $1.26 million over the next three years. Come this March, women’s and men’s teams alike will set off to compete on the big stage, being compensated along the way. By universalizing pay structures between women’s and men’s teams, the NCAA is recognizing the growth and success of the female game.