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When the DePaul athletic department discussed how they would celebrate the 50th anniversary of Title IX, they realized they wanted to do more than a ceremony or a social media post.
They decided to ask fans to put their money where their mouth is.
On Wednesday, the program announced the implementation of the “Women’s Athletics Advancement fee,” a $1 charge on any men’s basketball ticket — excluding season tickets, complimentary tickets, or student ticket packages. It’s believed to be the first such fee in the Division I arena.
If the program is successful, it could become a new model for athletic departments to support women’s sports teams.
What would success look like? Given that the team’s home court of Wintrust Arena seats about 10,000, the department projects at least $50,000 in earnings from the program this year, athletic director DeWayne Peevy told Front Office Sports.
“50K or more, 100K would have a real impact for [women’s] sports, from a need standpoint — not necessarily a want,” Peevy said. He explained that the department has a “wish list” of sorts, and he hopes that the money can help cover some of those on the women’s sports side.
After all, DePaul is hardly one of the richest schools in Division I — in 2020-21, it reported only $29 million in athletics revenue, per U.S. Department of Education data. That’s just a fraction of what many FBS football schools rake in. DePaul’s revenue comes primarily from a men’s basketball team that has left much to be desired in recent years.
While Peevy hasn’t received any specific feedback from fans on the initiative, he said he expects them to embrace it, given their historic interest in Blue Demon women’s sports.
There are some concerns with the idea, however.
“I don’t have much patience for campaigns for women’s sports that leverage the presumed higher popularity of men’s sports when the mission here is to grow interest in the women’s game,” Arizona State sports historian Victoria Jackson, who has spent much of her career studying women’s sports and Title IX, told FOS. “I also am skeptical of money-making schemes off of men’s sports when athletes in those sports are not permitted to share in enjoying the revenues they produce.”
She supports the idea for now, though, calling it “genuine, creative, and well-intentioned” — but said this type of initiative needs to be coupled with other investments.
In the past few years, DePaul athletics has made several.
It moved its women’s basketball program into Wintrust Arena, which Peevy said was a $400,000 expense. The department has also invested in better women’s sports facilities, like upgrading softball dugouts. And in mid-October, the department will launch a crowdfunding campaign to encourage donors to contribute specifically to women’s teams.
“We’ve got to continue to invest in it,” Peevy said.
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