The NCAA spends more on average on male athletes than on female athletes, especially when it comes to the “few championships” considered sources of revenue, according to a new report.
The law firm hired by the NCAA to investigate fairness issues released its 153-page report Tuesday evening, which includes a series of recommendations aimed at improving the gap between all sports tournaments. This is the company’s second report, following one on Aug. 3, which recommended how to equalize the men’s and women’s basketball tournaments.
The NCAA has implemented some, including allowing the women’s tournament to use the term “March Madness.”
“The same structural and cultural issues that affect Division I basketball permeate the NCAA and have shaped its treatment of other leagues,” the report said. “The heavy reliance of NCAA members on the money they receive from NCAA revenue distributions has put pressure on the NCAA to maximize these revenues and minimize expenses so that more funds can be distributed to members.
Tuesday’s report shows that spending per participant at Division I and national championships, excluding basketball, was about $1,700 less for women’s participants than for men in 2018-19. The NCAA spent $4,285 per male participant, compared to $2,588 per female participant.
The gap is even wider in six single-sex sports like wrestling and beach volleyball: $2,229 more per student-athlete for men’s championships than for women’s championships.
The study also found that sports with combined championships perform better on gender equality.
“We have seen that combining at least part of the men’s and women’s championships for a given sport allows for more coordinated planning, increases equity in the goods and services, facilities and resources provided at the championships and eliminates or reduces disparities between the look and feel of tournaments,” the report said.
Another element of the report shows that the NCAA does not have the infrastructure to encourage equal sponsorships across all championships.
“The report identified important recommendations, which we will prioritize and sequence so they can be implemented for impactful change,” the NCAA Board of Governors said in a statement posted on the institution’s website . “These changes may require a change in budgets and business models when assessing the balance between resources devoted to championships that produce revenue and resources to those that do not.
The review was conducted by Kaplan Hecker & Fink LLP, which was hired in March after the NCAA failed to provide similar equipment to Division I men’s and women’s basketball tournament teams. exploded on social media amid player complaints and drew apologies from NCAA leaders, including President Mark Emmert.
Tuesday’s report also recommended:
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Establish a system for collecting and maintaining standardized data across all 90 leagues that will facilitate future gender equity reviews and audits.
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Removed gender modifiers from branding for tournaments and championships.
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Increase the number of senior executives in the NCAA championship structure to improve oversight of gender equity.
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Establish a “zero-based” budget for each championship over the next five years to ensure gender differences are necessary, appropriate and equitable.
The report estimates that ESPN is underpaying the NCAA for tournament rights to 29 championships, “causing the association to lose substantial and crucial revenue.” For example, the company estimates that annual broadcast rights for women’s basketball in 2025 would be worth $81 million. at $112 million, “several times more” than the network currently gives the NCAA for the 29 championships.
“The structure of broadcast deals inhibits the growth of sports other than men’s basketball and the leadership team has been unable to recognize inequities in the treatment of student-athletes and address them in a timely manner,” Rich said, commissioner of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. said Ensor.
The August report pointed out that personnel was an issue for the championships, with men’s basketball having more than women’s hoops. Some sports like baseball and hockey also had larger rosters than softball and women’s hockey, the latest study says, although it showed that women’s volleyball and soccer had larger rosters than men’s. .
The report said there “does not appear to be a formal or consistent definition” of the three categories the NCAA uses to decide championship personnel: “equity,” meaning generating or capable of generating revenue; “growth,” which would have the potential to make money over time; and “supported”, or one who loses money.
“There remains little understanding among NCAA members and even NCAA staff about how personnel support is distributed across championships,” the report said.
The law firm also said it could not make direct comparisons between championships because “the NCAA does not maintain its records of expenses, ticket sales, equipment or other items in a standardized manner which would allow such an analysis.
Fan festivals are another topic where there is gender inequality, according to the report. The women’s football fan festival is larger than the men’s, but is an exception. The men’s lacrosse and baseball festivals have more sponsors, music and games than the women’s, the company said, and the NCAA spends more on them. The 2019 baseball fan festival cost about $274,800, compared to $53,900 for the softball equivalent.
