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After 2023 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Breaks Records, Reps. Sherrill, Salazar Introduce Bipartisan Legislation Addressing Equality in Women’s Collegiate Sports

April 6, 2023
Press Release

Washington, DC– Representatives Mikie Sherrill (NJ-11) and Maria Salazar (FL-27) introduced the Women in NCAA Sports (WINS) Act, bipartisan legislation that addresses and promotes fairness for the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) women’s sports programming. Two years after the dramatic inequities between men’s and women’s college basketball were laid bare, the NCAA has still failed to address structural issues regarding equality.

“The NCAA has made some progress in correcting the most obvious gender inequities within the Division I Basketball Championships, but there are far bigger organizational issues left to tackle,” said Rep. Sherrill. “This bipartisan legislation is the next step to ensuring the NCAA lives up to its responsibility to follow the mandate of Title IX and stops tolerating discrimination.

“As we saw in the success of this year’s women’s college basketball championship, this is a pivotal moment in women’s sports with viewership and investment skyrocketing. We need to use this momentum to make sure we live up to the full potential of Title IX and ensure our women college athletes have the full representation and equality they deserve,” Rep. Sherrill continued. 

“This year’s Women’s NCAA Basketball Championship was the most watched in history, even attracting more viewers than the World Series, which shows just how important women’s college athletics are,” said Rep. Salazar. “Representing the University of Miami, the only school to have its women’s and men’s team make it to the Elite 8, I am happy to co-lead this legislation to ensure female athletes will receive the same treatment and same facilities as their male counterparts.”

The WINS Act has been endorsed by the Women's Sports Foundation, Women's Basketball Coaches Association, Association of Title IX Administrators (ATIXA), National Fastpitch Coaches Association, The Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame, Alliance of Social Workers in Sports (ASWIS), Girls on the Run, and USA Lacrosse.

“Seeing a bipartisan effort to introduce the WINS Act is a step in the right direction to reach true equity for women in collegiate athletics,” said Women’s Sports Foundation CEO Danette Leighton. “On the heels of a record-breaking Women’s NCAA Basketball Tournament and last year’s milestone - Title IX’s 50th anniversary - we are seeing women athletes at colleges and universities take center stage like never before, but we know inequities still persist. Women athletes deserve equitable educational opportunities, in the classroom, in sports, and in championships. The WINS Act will help advance opportunities for women and prompt the NCAA to live up to its responsibilities and promises to treat men’s and women’s athletics equally and equitably.”

The WINS Act would establish a 16-member congressional commission to comprehensively study equality in the NCAA’s operation of tournaments and other programs for which there are men’s and women’s divisions. The commission will present a final report with policy recommendations that the NCAA should adopt to promote equality and fairness between men’s and women’s programs and reforms Congress should consider to improve oversight of equality at the NCAA. 

Specifically, the commission report to Congress must include:

  1. A comparison of the NCAA’s treatment of men’s and women’s teams in postseason tournaments and other student-athlete programs including venues and equipment provided for games and practices; lodging and transportation; media contracts; licensees, sponsors, and other fulfillment partners who deliver essential elements of the tournaments; and overall budgets;  
  2. An analysis of the NCAA’s constitution and policies that affect equality between men’s and women’s college sports teams; and 
  3. An overview of federal government support for the NCAA and recommendations for improved federal oversight of the NCAA’s promotion of equality.

The bipartisan commission will be composed of members appointed by House and Senate leadership, with special consideration of individuals with experience or professional expertise in college sports, equality, or Title IX compliance and those who are former college athletes, coaches, or athletics administrators. The commission will engage with key stakeholders to conduct its study and inform its recommendations to Congress. 

NCAA hired the law firm Kaplan Hecker & Fink LLP (Kaplan) in March of 2021 in an effort to independently assess the NCAA’s gender equity practices and make recommendations that would alleviate any inequities. The subsequent reports released by Kaplan identified a total of 39 recommended actions that the NCAA take to address gender inequities that “stem from the structure and systems of the NCAA itself”.

 

The NCAA addressed a number of quick and visible fixes: expanding the women’s tournament from 64 teams to 68, using March Madness branding, and giving the players the same swag bags filled with T-shirts, caps, towels, and other branded merchandise. However, the NCAA has both rejected recommendations identified by Kaplan and has neglected to commit to implementing others. 

According to the July 2022 progress report, the NCAA decided against placing the Vice President for Women’s Basketball at the same seniority level as the Senior Vice President of Basketball who also manages the men’s basketball programming. In the past year, the NCAA has also not yet considered establishing a Chief Business Officer role that would “implement a strategy in the marketing, promotion, and sponsorship of championships that both prioritizes gender equity and ensures the long-term sustainability of the NCAA.” This role will be particularly valuable as the NCAA renegotiates media rights that are currently set to expire in 2024.