In an effort to help close the gender pay gap in college sports, the NCAA will now pay Division I women’s basketball teams participating in March Madness games starting this year.
After a historic vote Wednesday, women’s teams will now receive “performance units” for every game they play in the NCAA Tournament. Met with a round of applause at the NCAA convention in Nashville, Tennessee, the unanimous vote was the final deciding factor in establishing a pay structure for women competing. March madness.
The change comes as men’s basketball teams have participated in revenue sharing plans for years. But with the growing popularity of women’s basketball, the NCAA Board of Governors voted unanimously in favor of the proposal in August. Wednesday’s vote solidified the details.
Starting with the 2025 season, a total of $15 million will be awarded to teams, representing 26% of women’s basketball media revenue. It will increase to $20 million for the 2026-2027 fiscal year and will reach $25 million starting in the 2027-2028 fiscal year. The units earned will be paid to schools starting in 2026 on a three-year rolling basis.
The longer a school remains in the tournament, the more units the school’s conference receives. With a Final Four appearance, a team could earn its conference $1.26 million over the next three years. The revenue distribution plan for the women’s tournament is similar to that of the men’s.
“This is a historic day for women’s sports, women’s basketball and the NCAA,” NCAA President Charlie Baker said in a statement. “We have made investing in women’s sports a priority, and today’s vote means our members have the opportunity to do even more on campus to promote and support female athletes. I can’t wait to see all the amazing things they do.
Last year’s women’s national championship game drew record attendance and also saw 18.7 million viewers tune in, becoming the most-watched women’s college basketball game of all time, with an increase by 89% compared to the 2023 championship game. It also surpassed the men’s national championship game by 3 million viewers.
Viewership records were set over the course of six rounds as fans watched exceptional players like Caitlin Clark from Iowa take on South Carolina’s head coach Dawn Staley and the undefeated Gamecocks. Other players who contributed to the increase in audience were Angel Reese of LSU, JuJu Watkins of USC and Paige Bueckers of UConn.
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Bueckers, who is expected to be a top pick in the 2025 WNBA draft if she decides not to return to the Huskies for another year, said revenue sharing is a step in the right direction. “I think it’s huge, just for women’s hoops, to continue to capitalize on what we’ve brought to the sport and what we’re doing for sports in general and entertainment,” Bueckers told reporters.
“It capitalizes on the momentum that’s there,” UConn head coach Geno Auriemma said. “It’s a statement they made today about women’s basketball’s place in the big picture of college athletics.”
The NCAA women’s tournament begins March 19 in Tampa, Florida.