NCAA working toward women’s tournament unit distribution as proposal circulates

How does women’s college basketball capitalize on this moment?

It was the question most frequently asked and answered at the Final Four last weekend in Cleveland, as the sport continued to break both attendance and viewership records. The growth in women’s basketball has been dramatic and quick; the 18.9 million people who tuned in for the South Carolina-Iowa national championship game was an 89 percent increase from the 2023 title game and an astounding 285 percent increase from 2022.

The women’s tournament was, by all measures, a triumph. But the teams whose success drove it did not receive money for their part of it. And so, as the sport turns its page to next season, focus has centered on the simplest and most straightforward piece of progress: units.

Each men’s team that participates in March Madness earns a sliver of NCAA Tournament revenue called a “unit” for making the field and then one unit for each subsequent win. First Four victories count, too. Each NCAA Tournament unit is worth just over $2 million and is paid out over the course of six years.

Women’s teams receive nothing for making or advancing in their NCAA Tournament. The disparity is tied to the men’s nearly billion-dollar media rights deal with CBS/Turner, as well as the history of the women’s tournament being undervalued and neglected.

But NCAA president Charlie Baker said the goal is to figure out a solution by next year, and The Athletic has obtained one possible proposal circulating on how to do it.

A group of 22 Division I commissioners — called CCA 22, who oversee the basketball-centric and FCS conferences — has circulated a unit proposal in recent weeks, a copy of which has been obtained by The Athletic. The proposal is structured around general principles and identifies areas of both concern and priority, with the CCA22 proposal suggesting the need to reward both participation and performance for leagues. It is largely seen as a jumping-off point for further discussion.

“Give us the units,” USC coach Lindsay Gottlieb said amid the Trojans’ Elite Eight run. “Why shouldn’t we have the units, right? The direct investment. People like money. They like return on investment. People are starting to see that women’s basketball is not just a values proposition, although it’s great theater and it’s great entertainment, but there’s also a monetary aspect to it.

“I just don’t see any reason why, if there’s men’s basketball that gets units for the tournament, why we shouldn’t.”

The NCAA specifically asked its media consultants to create a valuation for the women’s basketball tournament as part of its new media rights deal with ESPN, which was announced in January. Within the contract, which will begin next fall, the women’s basketball tournament is valued at approximately $65 million per year. That number is an important starting place for the formation of the unit program. But it is still not clear exactly how it would be structured in terms of who can receive units, when they would be paid out, and if they would be equal to the monetary value of the men’s tournament units.

Within the CCA22 proposal, each Division I conference would receive a unit for participating in the tournament through its automatic qualifier (as it does in the men’s), and each league would retain the right to determine how it wants to divide that revenue. (A low-major conference could try to incentivize investment in women’s basketball by sending half of the unit directly to the school that earned the bid, for example. Or it could split the revenue evenly among all members.) The CCA22 proposal would also then reward each team that wins a game to advance in the tournament, again like the men’s program.

“If the unit distribution is based only on those who receive at-large berths and wins in the tournament, the large majority will be distributed to a small number of conferences,” the proposal reads.

It suggests a starting amount of $25 million per year, which is the same number that was originally discussed by the DI Board’s finance subcommittee. This would allow the unit program to be fully funded by the new media rights deal. The CCA22 proposal calls for units to be distributed annually and reset every year, unlike the men’s system that pays out the value of a unit over six years. The proposal calls for the unit revenue to be paid out the same year as the tournament results.

“Distributing units annually and resetting ensures the overall unit value remains high — $190K/unit,” the proposal reads. “(Current men’s tournament) unit values are each approximately $340K/year. Although distributing less units annually, the WBB unit value can have greater impact with the full amount ($190K/unit) being distributed each year.”

There are, of course, arguments against parts of this proposal. Those most likely will come from FBS commissioners, who were not involved in making the proposal. SEC commissioner Greg Sankey said during SiriusXM’s Final Four pregame show that based on his office’s financial analysis, it might make more sense to have unit revenue distributed in the year or years following the tournament in which it is earned, “which will probably frustrate the women’s basketball community but is something that works pretty well.”

Sankey also supported performance-based units but seemed to take a lukewarm approach to the idea of every Division I conference receiving a unit every year. Deep runs, as the SEC is accustomed to seeing from programs like South Carolina, would result in revenue for the league. But that’s because the Gamecocks earn it by winning on that stage.

“It’s just a credit to her leadership.” @GregSankey celebrates the greatness of @dawnstaley as the @SEC wins its third straight women’s basketball championship.

Hear more coverage of @GamecockWBB’s 🏆 with @NicoleAuerbach: https://t.co/AqoEKtwt3b pic.twitter.com/OGWl0LKuco

— College Sports on SiriusXM (@SXMCollege) April 8, 2024

“The issue that was discussed early on is when you create these revenue opportunities that it affects decision-making,” Sankey said. “I’m not sure that, ‘Wow, if we do these units, then everybody across the country will better support women’s basketball.’ I’ve talked about our support and commitment being real across our league. That’s why you have four different programs (in the women’s Final Four) from four different conferences, because that’s widespread (support) that needs to continue. It’s not just about taking in the checks. It’s about supporting women’s basketball with that revenue opportunity.”

Those involved in these discussions expect the idea of a participation unit will lead to some debates in the coming months. Smaller conferences support it because it is additional revenue they do not have that can flow back into women’s basketball programs even if they cannot pull off upsets in the tournament, but larger conferences tend to support the idea of keeping what you earn by winning games.

The payout timing and structure will also receive serious debate. One source added that the NCAA could move money over from the men’s tournament or another income stream to ensure that the monetary value of the women’s tournament unit is the same as the men’s unit. But most of the administrators who spoke to The Athletic thought it was more likely that the unit value remained tied to its portion of the ESPN contract. The $25 million total unit pool per year is 38.5 percent of the women’s basketball tournament’s average annual value (and allows for the rest to cover the event’s operating costs).

The DI Board’s finance subcommittee has received a copy of the CCA22 proposal, two sources said. That committee has been tasked with developing and discussing format proposals, and it is expected to meet jointly with the Division I Women’s Basketball Oversight Committee and Division I Women’s Basketball Committee this month to seek initial feedback, an NCAA spokesman said.

The Division I Board of Directors is expected to finalize its unit program recommendation in August, but any change requires a full Division I membership vote because it impacts revenue distribution. A vote on the formation of a women’s basketball unit program is expected to occur in January at the 2025 NCAA convention. The unit program could be implemented as soon as the 2025 women’s basketball tournament.

“I do believe the unit will happen,” Big East commissioner Val Ackerman said on the SiriusXM pregame show. “The amount, I think, is TBD. I’m not sure it’s going to start off as the same as the men. The men’s unit is attributed to a much higher revenue stream because the TV contract on the men’s side is so handsome. But it’s getting started, and I think there’ll be a commitment to grow it over time, hopefully quickly.

“In my mind, it’s just a start. It’s a good validation of the sport and where it’s come from.”

(Photo of Charlie Baker: David J. Griffin / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)