Schools Could Soon Earn Credits for Women's Tourney

[Muskie]

I either had forgotten this, or didn't know. With all the money the NCAA makes I have no idea why they've not paid out.

Link

For now, though—despite a ton of progress—schools still get zero dollars for their women’s basketball teams participating and advancing in the NCAA Tournament.
That is starkly different on the men’s side, where “units” are awarded to conferences for each game played, then distributed to member schools. Through the units program, the teams in the men’s Final Four—Connecticut, Purdue, Alabama and North Carolina State—already have earned approximately $10 million each for their conferences to be paid out across the next six years (starting in 2025).
What have South Carolina, Iowa, Connecticut and N.C. State earned their conferences and themselves by making the women’s Final Four in Cleveland? Nothing.

[GoMuskies]

I don't think they've made much on the women's tournament in the past. And the best teams host and presumably get some of the gate in the first and second rounds.

[paulxu]

They probably made something on the LSU/Iowa re-match the other night.
Supposedly the most watched NCAA game ever (hard to imagine it would top a National Championship game).
Anyway, that was a lot of eyeballs for commercial dollars.

[Xville]

They probably made something on the LSU/Iowa re-match the other night.
Supposedly the most watched NCAA game ever (hard to imagine it would top a National Championship game).
Anyway, that was a lot of eyeballs for commercial dollars.

The most watched on espn ever, not most watched ever.

Anyways, there is a huge growth going on in women’s basketball and if Christopher has any brains at all, he will start directing some funds to that program. There is a really big opportunity for revenue here if just a little bit of money is spent on it , and what it has become is an abomination that should be rectified quickly.

[JTG]

The X women's team should at least become competitive. Right now it's dreadful. As for tv and tournament shares, how often will there be a generational scorer? For the NCAA to reboot everything in women's basketball just because Caitlin Clark came along doesn't seem wise.

[GoMuskies]

I remember Jackie Stiles being a similar sensation....close to 25 years ago. So perhaps 4 times a century?

Caitlin Clark is obviously the player everyone is most interested in, but I think Paige Bueckers is better now that she's healthy again. Should be interesting Friday night. Granted, Reid's sister and half of the UConn roster is hurt again, so Iowa may wear them down.

[Xville]

The X women's team should at least become competitive. Right now it's dreadful. As for tv and tournament shares, how often will there be a generational scorer? For the NCAA to reboot everything in women's basketball just because Caitlin Clark came along doesn't seem wise.

While Clark is definitely a sensation that is obviously rarified air, there are quite a few personalities that are coming out of womens' hoops right now that people are interested in. Numbers are gaining a lot of steam, not just for Iowa games. Beuckers, JuJu, Reese, Staley etc. have people watching and it is only going to get bigger.

[MHettel]

the NCAA should split the PROFIT from the womens tourney to the participants in the same manner that they do the mens. That makes a ton of sense.

What makes NO SENSE is if the NCAA decides that the mens tournament should subsidize the womens. Or they distribute more out than what was made in profit.

Those are the details that I'd like to understand.

[HomerCecil]

the NCAA should split the PROFIT from the womens tourney to the participants in the same manner that they do the mens. That makes a ton of sense.

What makes NO SENSE is if the NCAA decides that the mens tournament should subsidize the womens. Or they distribute more out than what was made in profit.

Those are the details that I'd like to understand.

From the article linked at the top of this post:

But with the Indianapolis-based NCAA’s new television deal with ESPN, units should come to women’s basketball in the near future, possibly by next year’s tournament. NCAA President Charlie Baker has said as much. The media contract, signed in January, is for eight years and $920 million, including women’s basketball and a list of non-revenue sports. Women’s basketball is valued at $65 million per tournament, roughly 10 times more than in the contract that ends this year.

As far as Xavier is concerned, maybe we could focus on trying to win a conference game for the first time in three seasons, or finishing inside the top 300 of Division I.

[MHettel]

From the article linked at the top of this post:

Women’s basketball is valued at $65 million per tournament, roughly 10 times more than in the contract that ends this year.

.

So I interpret that to mean the revenue from the media deal. The NCAA will expend probably 20 Million to hold the tournament. So maybe 45M split across 64 teams (I actually dont even know how many teams there are...), with the payout based on the number of games you play. Maybe a couple Hundred K for a first round exit, and that money gets split across the conference. Obviously WAAAAY better than zero.