Potential Solutions

Since Phase I came out in August, the NCAA has already employed or begun to explore several recommendations for mitigating inequities in basketball.

The second report expressed cautious optimism that solutions could be implemented for other sports.

As with basketball, the NCAA needs to do some soul searching. It needs to consider how it structures championships, why it makes certain investment decisions, and how that impacts athletes in real life. 

• The NCAA should commission an outside valuation of its other sports’ media rights, the report said.
• It must ensure branding is equitable, “including but not limited to gender modifiers in championship titles.”
• It should study whether combining men’s and women’s tournaments would increase equity in the same sports.
• It should create a “zero-based” budget for all sports so that resource allocation can be equitable.

“We expect efforts to address gender equity across all sports to continue with diligence and a strong commitment to fairness so the NCAA can fully meet its commitment to provide positive championship experiences for all college athletes,” the NCAA Board of Governors said in a statement. 

Of course, not every specific solution the first report presented to fix basketball inequity will work for other sports.

But the question remains: Where was that commitment before?