{"id":130640,"date":"2025-03-25T06:53:38","date_gmt":"2025-03-25T10:53:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=130640"},"modified":"2025-03-25T06:53:38","modified_gmt":"2025-03-25T10:53:38","slug":"how-the-ncaa-can-fix-womens-march-madness-media-rights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/03\/25\/how-the-ncaa-can-fix-womens-march-madness-media-rights\/","title":{"rendered":"How The NCAA Can Fix Women\u2019s March Madness Media Rights"},"content":{"rendered":"

The NCAA signed<\/a> an eight-year, $920 million deal with ESPN in 2024. The deal included 40 championships, bundling the women\u2019s March Madness tournament into a large package. Women\u2019s basketball was valued at $65 million per year\u2014nearly double the previous entire NCAA package. However, media experts believe<\/a> the NCAA left millions on the table. Estimates valued the women\u2019s tournament alone at $81 million to $112 million by 2024.<\/p>\n

How The NCAA Can Fix Women\u2019s March Madness Media Rights In 2032<\/h2>\n

Ratings exploded during the tournament, especially during the Caitlin Clark<\/a> era. The 2024 national championship between Iowa and South Carolina averaged 18.9 million viewers. That number outdrew the men\u2019s title game for the first time in history.<\/p>\n

This success exposed flaws in the NCAA\u2019s media strategy. The next negotiation cycle in 2032 offers a chance to fix them.<\/p>\n

Unbundling Women\u2019s Basketball Unlocks More Value<\/h3>\n

The NCAA must seriously consider unbundling women\u2019s basketball from the other championships. Selling the women\u2019s tournament as a standalone property will generate more competition and drive up the price.<\/p>\n

Packaging it with less popular sports limits potential bidders. In 2024, only ESPN<\/a> could reasonably handle the entire 40-championship package. That created a soft market with little negotiation leverage.<\/p>\n

Experts argue that breaking women\u2019s basketball away and creating additional bundles for softball, baseball, or volleyball could maximize revenue.<\/p>\n

Streaming platforms like Amazon or Netflix may not want smaller sports but would pay for women\u2019s basketball. Future bidders may include Apple, NBC, or YouTube TV\u2014all looking for proven live sports content.<\/p>\n

NCAA Sponsorship Model Must Change<\/h3>\n

Current NCAA rules require sponsors to buy men\u2019s tournament deals before investing in women\u2019s basketball. This policy blocks companies interested only in supporting the women\u2019s tournament.<\/p>\n

In 2032, the NCAA must allow brands to buy women\u2019s March Madness sponsorships independently. Companies targeting female audiences or promoting women\u2019s sports will immediately jump in.<\/p>\n

Removing this hurdle will bring fresh dollars directly into women\u2019s basketball.<\/p>\n

Explore a Combined Final Four for Greater Impact<\/h3>\n

The NCAA should revisit the idea of hosting the men\u2019s and women\u2019s Final Fours in the same city. Although controversial, combining locations could boost visibility and revenue for women\u2019s basketball.<\/p>\n

Fans, media, and sponsors currently choose between events. A joint Final Four creates a festival atmosphere celebrating both tournaments equally.<\/p>\n

Top commissioners like Val Ackerman and Gloria Nevarez supported testing this concept. The NCAA must at least pilot it during the next media cycle.<\/p>\n

Capitalize on Women\u2019s Basketball\u2019s Star Power<\/h3>\n

The Caitlin Clark<\/a> era proved that women\u2019s basketball creates superstars capable of attracting massive audiences. Even without Clark, new stars like JuJu Watkins<\/a> and Paige Bueckers<\/a> are ready.<\/p>\n

The NCAA must market these players aggressively. Strong personalities and rivalries drive sports viewership. Women\u2019s college basketball is no different.<\/p>\n

Regular-season games and conference tournaments deserve prime-time slots and streaming promotion. Visibility fuels growth\u2014and future media rights value.<\/p>\n

2032 Is a Crucial Turning Point<\/h3>\n

The next media rights deal in 2032 offers the NCAA a chance to correct its 2024 mistakes. Women\u2019s college basketball will only grow more valuable by then.<\/p>\n

Unbundling, modernizing sponsorship rules, and embracing new bidders will increase revenue. Prioritizing women\u2019s basketball sends a strong message about equity and business savvy.<\/p>\n

The NCAA cannot afford another conservative deal. The future of women\u2019s sports depends on bold decisions.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The NCAA signed an eight-year, $920 million deal with ESPN in 2024. The deal included 40 championships, bundling the women\u2019s March Madness tournament into a large package. Women\u2019s basketball was valued at $65 million per year\u2014nearly double the previous entire NCAA package. However, media experts believe the NCAA left millions on the table. Estimates valued […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5018,"featured_media":130643,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[62,1608,773],"tags":[49063,979,50013,826,481,4266,4263,4153,980],"class_list":["post-130640","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba","category-basketball","category-college-basketball","tag-caitlin-clark","tag-espn","tag-juju-watkins","tag-march-madness","tag-ncaa","tag-ncaa-womens-basketball","tag-ncaa-womens-tournament","tag-paige-bueckers","tag-sports-media"],"modified_by":"Frederick Okocha","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130640","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5018"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=130640"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130640\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":130645,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130640\/revisions\/130645"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/130643"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=130640"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=130640"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=130640"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}