Women's Final Four shows tide turning, but equality in sports remains elusive | Opinion
We are at the cusp of monumental change in collegiate athletics, and for the sake of future generations, it is time to invest more in women's sports.
Women’s basketball is once again captivating millions of fans as we head into the NCAA's Final Four weekend in Tampa, Florida, despite a history of underinvestment at many college programs across the country.
With college sports in the midst of transformative change, I hope great care will be taken by university leaders to protect the many gains women’s sports have made over the past five decades and to preserve broad access to competitive opportunities for future generations.
The college sports industry is a multibillion dollar business that has relied on football and men’s basketball as its cash cows, often shortchanging and underinvesting in women and men’s Olympic sports in the process.
Opportunities for women athletes are still unequal
More than 50 years after the passage of Title IX, research has shown that women athletes still miss out on scholarships and participation opportunities. A majority of NCAA institutions – 86% – do not offer athletic opportunities to women athletes in proportion to their enrollment, which is a key option in Title IX compliance.
Additionally, if schools were to provide proportional participation opportunities, NCAA Division I and Division II schools would need to offer an additional $741 million in athletic scholarships to even the scales.
As a society, we should address and bridge these staggering scholarships and opportunity gaps because of the proven correlation between sports participation and leadership later in life.
Through athletics, women and men learn intangibles such as grit, drive, collaboration, resilience and teamwork, which are critical skills to bring into the workforce. When women who have experienced the training, competition and rigors of sport enter the workforce, the economy thrives and society benefits.
With a thoughtful and sustained investment approach, women’s sports can be seen as assets and sources of pride for their institutions instead of merely cost centers.
Women athletes are now proving they can generate significant returns on investment through record-breaking game attendance and television viewership. Last year’s NCAA basketball tournament was a perfect example, as nearly 19 million viewers tuned in for the championship game between the University of South Carolina Gamecocks and the University of Iowa Hawkeyes, beating out the rating for the men’s tournament final for the first time.
American college sports also are the main feeder system for the Olympics and other national team competitions. In the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, women represented more than half of Team USA and inspired the nation by collecting 67 medals, winning more than women from any other country.
Without continued investment in women’s sports at the collegiate level, the future success of the U.S. Olympic team could be gravely imperiled.
NIL helps athletes build their brand
A bright spot for all college athletes has been the onset of loosened rules around the monetization of name, image and likeness rights. NIL deals have benefited many women athletes, especially those in high-profile sports with broad television exposure.
These deals have allowed women athletes to grow their brands and their bank accounts, and we hope that schools will uphold their Title IX obligations by offering equitable opportunities for women’s and men’s athletes to continue to benefit from the NIL marketplace.
However, NIL deals arranged through collectives often serve as a loophole for Title IX compliance. Transparency is expected to be required – under a legal settlement involving the NCAA and possibly by federal requirements – and will be an important way to force accountability about both opportunities and spending levels.
The efforts to sustain and grow women’s college sports will no doubt be impacted by the financial pressures Division I schools will face with the onset of the legal settlement’s revenue-sharing model and other ongoing legal challenges to the collegiate model.
Without congressional intervention and data transparency requirements to sort out the interplay in the college sports world of antitrust, labor and tax law and Title IX, we fear that schools will apply different operational and investment standards to their men’s and women’s programs, which will in turn halt the progress women’s sports have made or, at worst, leave programs on the chopping block.
The new era of women’s sports has demonstrated that investment matters. The NCAA basketball tournament reinforces all the benefits college sports bring to women, men and our society. So when you tune in to watch the Final Four, we ask that you do not lose sight of the fact that the progress made does not guarantee progress to come.
We are at the cusp of monumental change in collegiate athletics, and for the sake of future generations, it is time to invest more in women’s sports, not less.
Danette Leighton is chief executive officer of the Women’s Sports Foundation. She previously served as a longtime sports business executive in professional and collegiate men’s and women’s sports.