Why Does Women’s March Madness Keep Getting Lowballed?
The NCAA continues undervaluing the players, even after they proved themselves in last year’s breakout season.
Something isn’t adding up.
Photographer: Andy Lyons/Getty Images North AmericaEven before the first shot, the 2025 edition of March Madness is shaping up to be the most lucrative NCAA women’s college basketball tournament ever. Advertising space for the championship, which will air on ABC, sold out months ago, with rates exceeding $1 million for 30 seconds. That’s what it roughly costs to advertise during the NBA Finals in some markets, double what advertisers paid during the women’s championship game last year and 10 times what the tournament received just a few years ago.
The surge in revenue reflects the immense growth in popularity that women’s hoops have enjoyed since the 2024 championship game earned better television ratings than the men’s matchup. Yet this year, the NCAA will take in 15 times more media rights money from the men’s tournament than the women’s.