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TAMPA, Fla. — Dawn Staley and Geno Auriemma have been fierce competitors on the court and lead two of the most successful programs in the sport, but the coaches are on the same page when it comes to the future of women’s basketball.
On Saturday, ahead of Sunday’s title game, both coaches advocated for a new television deal for the women’s March Madness tournament—one that would be independent of any other NCAA championship.
“We need our own television deal so we can understand what our worth is,” Staley said.
The NCAA extended its rights package with ESPN in January 2024: an eight-year, $920 million contract for 40 NCAA championships for an average annual value of $115 million. The women’s basketball tournament was the star of a deal worth $65 million, about 56.5% of the whole contract.
However, a third-party study conducted in 2021 concluded that, by this year, the NCAA could have fetched around $81 million to $112 million if the women’s tournament were to have an independent deal.
“For years and years and years we’ve been packaged with all the other Olympic sports, so to speak, in one big chunk. Can we completely separate ourselves and say: What are we worth to you?” Auriemma said.
This new deal allowed conferences to be awarded with “units” for the first time, monetary awards that granted a total of $15 million this season and will hit $25 million by 2027.
The women’s basketball funds, once they are fully funded, will account for about 41% of the women’s basketball value in the new ESPN agreement, a source told FOS. The men’s funds account for approximately 24% of the men’s broadcast agreement.
Without mentioning ESPN, Auriemma even suggested that the NCAA could also explore different media partners for a new deal. “It may be somebody else cause there’s so many more choices,” Auriemma said. ESPN has owned the rights to the women’s tournament since 1996.
It’s unclear, though, if Auriemma and Staley’s pleas will turn into immediate action, given the first year of the eight-year deal was this year. Staley’s press conference comments were prompted by a question about newly announced Women’s Basketball Coaches Association president Jose Fernandez and whether he had any ability to kickstart negotiations.
“I’m not going to tell [Fernandez] how to do his job, but there are certain things that we need. I don’t know if he can get that, [but opening] up negotiations for a new television deal would be nice,” Staley said.
