A report issued by the law firm Kaplar Hecker & Fink reveals that the NCAA spends, on average, more on male athletes than female. The non profit organization considers revenue-producing men’s championships. “Men’s and women’s basketball have the same budget, I guess no. Simple because the money that men bring from the media rights that the NCAA is able to distribute among schools when you are making games at the NCAA tournaments,” states Turner.

 

The report found that the NCAA spent $4.285 for men’s Division I and national championships participants, excluding basketball. While the spent for female athletes is about $1.700 less during the season 2018-19. The NCAA spends $2,229 more in male student-athletes championships than for females. 

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This law firm was hired by the NCAA, during march of 2021. After the organization was criticized for the amenities differences between the men’s and women's Division I basketball teams during the tournament.

The previous review from August 2021 already showed that the non profit has treated women’s games unfairly for years.

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The NCAA just perceives men’s championships in D1 baseball, basketball, ice hockey, lacrosse, and wrestling as money makers. For sports in which one championship is perceived as more lucrative than its female counterpart, “stark differences in spending and staffing emerge, leading to inequitable student-athlete experiences in those championships,” according to the report. 

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“We get a decent amount of things, a hospitality room and we get a tournament gift but anything fancy. I have seen that the men’s basketball team gets steaks, really good snacks, and cool gear while we get a water bottle. Men's volleyball won’t get as good things as female does,” explains Carrie Gurnell, director of operations of the Purdue women’s Volleyball team. She has been in this position since August of 2021. Previously, she was an assistant coach at Gardner university (2016/17), then in North Texas University for three years. 

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“The NCAA's simultaneous failure to put in place systems to identify, prevent, and address gender inequalities across its championships has allowed gender disparities in these and other sports to persist for too long,” the investigators stated. However, the direct comparison among men’s and women’s championship couldn’t be done. “The NCAA does not maintain its records of expenses, ticket sales, amenities, or other items in a standardized manner that would permit such analysis,” the report said.

 

“Our case is very unique. Women’s volleyball is probably one of the only sports that is more popular for women than it is for men right now. Men are still trying to generate more audience, you never see them on television. Women still don’t get a lot of screen time,” states Gurnell.

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One of the actions of the NCAA to end inequalities was in the D1 basketball championship, the most important event of the year. The solution, creating March Madness marketing D1Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championships. For the first time, during the 2022 tournament the NCAA D1 Women’s Basketball used the term March Madness. Before, it was just for referring to the men’s championship.

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