The NCAA has undervalued women’s basketball. Marketers didn’t.

SPOKANE, Washington — No one here could escape the symbolism. March Madness logos seemed to be everywhere in this small town last week, on posters, stickers, towels, electronic billboards and in hotel lobbies. Madness had befallen this and the other three cities hosting the final 16 teams in the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament.
Last year’s tournament had no such branding. Held entirely in bubbling venues around the San Antonio area, with a few games in San Marcos and Austin, the 2021 tournament looked like the NCAA’s evil son-in-law. As the men’s tournament reveled in coveted TV spots and received lavish attention, Sedona Prince shared the women’s paltry accommodations on his TikTok and Twitter accounts. The women play with all the skill and intrigue seen in the men’s game, but the NCAA gave Prince and his competitors no pageantry.
Consider this women’s tournament a remake. In basketball terms, a make-up call.
The action in Spokane showed the greatness displayed in what is the first NCAA women’s tournament to feature 68 teams, like the men, and use the March Madness brand. There was a sweet excellence, typified by defending champion Stanford, who choked Maryland, 72-66, on Friday with his intensity and the do-it-all skills of Haley Jones, an all-American forward. There was also grit, epitomized by Ohio State, which could have pulled off a last-minute win Friday over Texas were it not for the Longhorns’ defense and the glow of freshman point guard Rori Harmon.
Apart from the signage, women are supposed to receive whatever the men do for their sweat, courage, and skill this year. For women, that meant better food and gift bags. “We have something new that I don’t think any of us have seen before: a hooded pillow!” Maryland point guard Katie Benzan said last week.
It’s all beautiful and good. It is also a handy fruit. Fifty years after the passage of Title IX, the landmark legislation that called for gender equity in federally funded educational programs, the NCAA was pushed into these simple changes after an internally ordered review had blistered the organization for an old school man. -centered approach.
The study, known as the Kaplan Report, found that the NCAA’s efforts to snatch support and profit from its Division I men’s tournament had limited the growth and value of its women’s tournament. His lack of support for women has cost the NCAA millions of dollars in television revenue – while also causing fan anger and alienation.
The real test is yet to come. Simple changes can only go so far. Following outrage over Prince’s video, the 2021 Women’s Championship Game, a thrilling Stanford win over Arizona, topped the average NBA playoff game last season. This year, the ratings have increased significantly for women’s games. And the NCAA Women’s Tournament continued its upward trend in popularity. The NCAA has the opportunity to produce a cash cow that will move women’s soccer forward when it renegotiates its next basketball broadcast deal in 2024. Will it?
We are at a precipice. A “barge through the door” moment. Women’s college basketball looks set to rise like never before.
Take a step back from the big tournament. Guess who is benefiting the most from their growing popularity on social media and new college sports rules on endorsements?
“If you take football players out of the equation and look at how student-athletes are monetizing sponsors in this new world, female athletes are crushing males,” said Blake Lawrence, chief executive of Opendorse, a tech company that has partnered with dozens of universities to help athletes navigate marketing opportunities.
Overall, female basketball players receive the second-most endorsement money of any college athlete, according to Opendorse. They’re followed by – uh, drum roll please – male basketball players.
And after them, the money list is filled with competitors in two other women’s sports: swimming and diving, and volleyball.
The biggest names in the NCAA Women’s Tournament have reaped huge profits. Paige Bueckers, a second-year guard in Connecticut, is featured in Gatorade commercials. Lawrence is convinced that she makes over a million dollars from her endorsements. One of his teammates, rookie Azzi Fudd, recently signed with Steph Curry’s management team.
After both players starred in UConn’s 75-58 win over Indiana on Saturday, their 3-pointers popped up on flagship shows and social media, which is exactly why commercial brands consider them precious.
“I never thought this would happen when I got drafted,” Jones said of Stanford. She heralded a move into a world few could imagine even last season, ticking off her sponsors, which include Beats by Dre, NBA 2K, Coin Cloud and Black-owned curly hair care line Uncle Funky’s Daughter. Jones noted that she is now represented by PRP, a Las Vegas talent agency whose clients include Shaquille O’Neal and Jayson Tatum.
Welcome to the revolution.
“It’s pretty amazing to fly first class and stay in the best hotels,” Jones said, referring to his trips made for corporate video shoots. “I usually fly by coach and stay in the cheapest hotel possible.”
If you think players who reap those kinds of benefits will be more accepting of the same lousy treatment and inequality, think again. A new era of self-reliant, basketball-led competitors will continue to demand change far beyond the easy hosannas of better swag, tastier food, and all those signs proclaiming March Madness.