01/15/25 02:49:00
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01/15 14:48 CST March Madness will pay women's teams under a new structure
approved by the NCAA
March Madness will pay women's teams under a new structure approved by the NCAA
By TERESA M. WALKER
AP Sports Writer
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) --- Women's basketball teams finally will be paid for
playing games in the NCAA Tournament each March just like the men have for
years under a plan approved Wednesday at the NCAA convention.
The unanimous vote by NCAA membership was the final step toward a pay structure
for women playing in March Madness after the Division I Board of Governors
voted unanimously for the proposal in August.
Now, so-called performance units, which represent revenue, will be given to
women's teams playing in the tournament. A women's basketball team that reaches
the Final Four could bring its conference roughly $1.26 million over the next
three years in financial performance rewards.
In the first year, $15 million will be awarded to teams out of the fund, which
is 26% of the women's basketball media revenue deal. That will grow to $25
million, or 41% of the revenue, by 2028. The 26% is on par with what men's
basketball teams received the first year the performance units program was
established.
This will start in March in the 43rd year of the women's NCAA Tournament. The
NCAA sharing March Madness revenue with its member schools has long been a
feature of the men's tournament. The lack of a units system for the women's
tournament has been a point of sharp criticism.
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