dropping the ball
As a woman — more specifically — a woman in sports, I learned at a really young age that “sports” inevitably became synonymous with being a ‘man.’
Go ahead…Name any professional or collegiate athlete.
The chances you named a successful female athlete are slim. If you did, then hats off to you.
Reflecting on my childhood, learning that sports are primarily male-dominated did not minimize my personal athletic capabilities or motivation. I was fortunate enough to compete in the NCAA on a full athletic scholarship. However, growing up as a woman in sports you quickly face the reality that there is a perpetual stigma attached to being a female athlete.
There is this constant misconception that females are not as “athletically gifted” as males. It’s downright insulting. To gain minimal recognition and acclamation (anywhere near comparable to men), women must work that much harder than men — probably around three or four times more.
This gender disparity in athletics is not a new concept. Men’s and women’s sports have received contrasting treatment for as long as they have existed. But the ways that powerful athletic institutions, specifically the NCAA, have put down women’s sports go far beyond “funding.”
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a member-led organization dedicated to the well-being and lifelong success of college athletes — or at least they “claim to be.” Two of the five pillars of their core values advocate for fairness and equal opportunity.
How has one of the most powerful athletic organizations that pride itself in its commitment to equal opportunities been undervaluing and underfunding women’s sports for years? What about Title IX?
In 1999, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled (NCAA v. Smith, 525 US 459) that although the NCAA collected fees from its federally funded member institutions, the NCAA itself is not technically bound by Title IX. Title IX requires the individual member schools to provide equal access and resources to its men and women who chose to participate in college athletics.
So, there’s the loophole. Individual academic/athletic institutions must abide by Title IX rules in terms of granting proportionate access and support for men’s and women’s sports. However, the NCAA doesn’t have to abide by this rule due to the fact Association’s receipt of dues indirectly benefits from federal assistance afforded by its members. In short, the NCAA is under no legal responsibility to provide an equal level of resources or facilities to the men and women who compete in championships.
The NCAA Dropped the Ball
However, the NCAA was recently under fire for apparent inequalities in the 2021 men’s and women’s college basketball tournaments. University of Oregon forward Sedona Prince posted a video to social media outing the institution's inability to provide women with the same resources and amenities as the men during the tournament (weight room access, food buffets, swag bags, and even the basketball venues). Other coaches and players chimed in on social media, making the association’s incompetence the defining story of the tournament.
What had started as a single small rack of dumbbells was upgraded overnight by a larger space with more equipment (weights, racks, stands). NCAA executives such as President Mark Emmert and VP of women’s basketball Lynn Holzman admitted that the organization “fell short” of their duties and advised it will never happen again. Holman added that the NCAA “originally intended” for women to have access to a full weight room once their teams had reached the third round of the tournament. The men’s teams, on the other hand, had access to a full-weight room for the entirety of the tournament.
When the basketball tournament began and the women landed in Texas and the men in Indiana, they faced exceedingly different experiences. Widely talked about was the inadequate weight rooms, but there were drastic disparities in food quality, COVID-19 tests, team lounges, and gift bags provided.
The NCAA knows exactly what they’re doing. If this incident weren’t brought into the light, the NCAA would continue neglecting the value of women’s basketball (and women’s sports in general) without any repercussions. This wasn’t the result of a minor mistake, but rather a series of deliberate choices made directly by the association who refuse to hold themselves accountable.
“The NCAA had an opportunity to highlight how sports can be a place where we don’t just talk about equality, we put it on display. To say they dropped the ball would be the understatement of the century,” said former longtime Notre Dame women’s basketball coach Muffet McGraw.
The association painstakingly tries to portray itself as a place that prides itself on diversity, inclusion, and gender equity among student-athletes and coaches. Have you ever seen any NCAA commercials? All the commercials filled with women that talk about how the NCAA helps mold successful futures for student-athletes?
It’s a sad reality when you realize the institution is more interested in using athletic women for marketing and good publicity rather than properly investing in their athletic success.
Let’s Talk Money
The NCAA acknowledged this past March that it had budgeted nearly double for its men’s basketball tournament in 2019 compared to what it planned for its women’s competition. The NCAA executives pressed that the $13.5 million gap was due to substantial variations in the formats and popularity of the tournaments.
However, a New York law firm Kaplan Hecker & Fink LLP created an external review that found substantial evidence of systemic gender inequity issues at the NCAA basketball tournaments. The report found that the claimed “$13.5 million difference” was instead a gap in spending of about $35 million.
From Kaplan’s report there were four major areas in which systemic gender inequities existed:
Men’s basketball has more participation opportunities than women’s basketball
The NCAA’s revenue distribution model prioritizes men’s basketball
The NCAA’s media rights agreements “perpetuate” inequity
The structure and culture of the NCAA governing body “prioritize” men’s basketball
The report also addresses that the institution spent $2.4 million on signage for the men’s tournament, but only $783,000 on signage for the women’s, adding to the list of things that make the two tournaments “very different in their look and feel.”
Let’s not forget: the organization repeatedly denied the women’s tournament organizers the use of the famous March Madness logo on any promotional materials. Don’t misinterpret this; it means that “March Madness” is about men’s basketball, and MEN only.
So how has the NCAA gotten away with all this? By continuously perpetuating this faulty narrative that women’s basketball is destined to be an insufficient “money loser.” This narrative isn’t just present within the organization though. Groups of misogynistic individuals, including former NBA player Nick Young have used this reasoning to justify the women’s tournament getting less of an investment.
Let’s dive into this…
Who Run the World? Girls.
In general, Kaplan’s review suggested that increasing television audiences and female players’ having massive followings on social media could allow the NCAA to negotiate far higher fees for coverage of women’s games.
In June, the NCAA passed a policy that finally allows college athletes the opportunity to benefit from their name, image, and likeness (referred to as NIL) after years of restraint. How did this directly impact women for such a long period of time?
The former ban on players getting paid for the use of their name/image prevented athletes from profitable earnings during their playing careers. Women are far less likely to have professional sports opportunities than men, so this restriction wiped out almost all their possible athletic revenue. In women’s basketball, specifically, the WNBA (Women’s National Basketball Association) currently has 144 roster spots among 12 teams. In the NBA (National Basketball Association) there are 450 spots across 30 teams as well as a minor league (G-League) in which women’s basketball has no equivalent.
As you can imagine, this was a BIG deal when this policy was overturned. Women’s sports are on the rise — and it’s not slowing down. UConn’s sophomore guard Paige Bueckers has around 948,000 followers on Instagram; Auburn gymnast and Olympic gold medalist Sunisa Lee has 1.5 million followers on the platform. Sports marketing publisher Opendorse estimated 6 of the 12 highest college athlete earners in 2020 would have been women, had the NCAA permitted the policy during that time.
If student-athletes had the power to monetize their NIL rights (name, image, likeness), then the top women’s basketball players in this year’s Elite Eight would have had greater earnings than the top men. (Eight of the 10 most-followed Elite Eight players were women).
The Ball is in their Court
It’s about time the NCAA reassesses the value they place on female student-athletes.
Kaplan’s report recommended the N.C.A.A:
1. Establish a system for collecting and maintaining standardized data across all 90 championships that will facilitate future gender equity reviews and audits (Currently, there is no governing body assigned to monitoring gender equity internally within the NCAA)
2. Getting rid of gender modifiers on branding for the tournaments and championships (Ex: Women’s NCAA Championship vs. March Madness (Men’s)
3. Increasing the number of senior staff in the NCAA’s championship’s structure to improve oversight of gender equity (Currently, there is no governing body assigned to monitoring gender equity internally within the NCAA)
4. Conducting a “zero-based” budget for each championship over the next five years to ensure gender differences are necessary, appropriate, and equitable
The NCAA has taken small steps in the right direction, we won’t lose complete faith… yet. They recently passed the NIL policy, which has helped improve audiences for women’s sports.
The organization also recently expanded the NCAA women’s hockey tournament from eight to 11 teams to now be in line with the men’s hockey national championship in terms of teams eligible. As well as, hosting both the men’s and women’s Division I soccer final in the same city.
There is certainly progress, but still, there is A LOT of work to be done. After years of undermining female athletes, the NCAA has a lot of making up to do. If they are continuously held accountable and understand the importance of abiding by gender equity, then there may be light at the end of the tunnel.
Only time will tell.
