Rep. Sherrill Appeals to New NCAA President on Importance of Equity Ahead of March Madness
Washington, DC– Representative Mikie Sherrill (NJ-11) sent a letter to Charlie Baker, the new president of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and former Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, to offer her support in addressing the current gender inequities within the NCAA’s operations and programming, including funding equitable participation opportunities, experiences, and financial aid for student-athletes.
“There is significant untapped potential in the NCAA’s women’s sports programming, including lucrative financial opportunities that would further support women’s sports. According to estimates in the Kaplan report, their independent media expert estimated that the annual broadcast rights for the Women’s Basketball Championship alone will be worth between $81 and $112 million annually in 2025. Under the soon-expiring media deal, ESPN only paid $34 million annually for the rights to the tournament bundled with 29 other championships. The current media rights negotiation is a major opportunity for the NCAA to make significant improvements in the broadcasting of women’s sports,” Rep. Sherrill wrote in the letter to President Baker.
“It is my sincere hope that under your new leadership, the NCAA can truly live up to the spirit of Title IX. I stand ready to partner with you in these efforts and would like to meet with you as soon as possible so that we may discuss the path forward to addressing gender inequities within the NCAA,” Rep. Sherrill continued.
Following the revelations during the 2021 NCAA Division I Basketball Championships that exposed how women's basketball teams were provided inferior accommodations compared to the men's teams, Congresswoman Sherrill fiercely advocated in Congress for women’s equality in college sports, specifically within the NCAA.
The NCAA commissioned an outside review by the law firm Kaplan Hecker and Fink LLP to examine gender equity across NCAA programs. Following its investigation, Kaplan released two reports, which included 39 recommendations. Although the NCAA has taken some short-term steps to address inequities in collegiate sports, it has been slow to commit to or fully implement many of Kaplan’s recommendations.
The full text of the letter is available here and below:
Charlie Baker
President
National Collegiate Athletic Association
700 W. Washington Street
Indianapolis, IN 46026
Dear President Baker:
Congratulations on beginning your tenure as the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s President. As you start this new role, I’m writing to offer my support in efforts to uplift NCAA women’s sports. In particular, I am hopeful that we can work together to address the current gender inequities within the NCAA’s operations and programming, especially with the NCAA Division I Basketball Championship quickly approaching.
As I am sure you are aware, the 2021 Women’s Final Four shed a spotlight on systemic disparities that exist between the men’s and women’s tournaments, especially after videos and social media posts from the athletes went viral, demonstrating the vast gender inequities between the men’s and women’s conditioning facilities, food and nutrition, COVID testing, and publicity. The women’s team was not even allowed to use the name “March Madness” in their branding.
I have followed the response from the NCAA to the exposure of these inequities closely, even meeting with your predecessor last year, and while some progress has been made, it is clear that there is still a lot of work to do.
I was glad to see the NCAA hire 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”.[1] I am concerned that since the release of those recommendations in 2021, less than half of those recommendations have been implemented.
I commend the efforts made thus far, including the nine changes indicated by the NDAA’s July 2022 Progress Report along with the establishment of the 32-team postseason tournament in Division I Women’s Basketball and the hiring of external media company, Endeavor, to consult on upcoming NCAA media rights negotiations.[2][3] I hope to work with you to fully implement the rest of the Kaplan recommendations as I continue to have concerns about the equitable treatment of women athletes, especially as the Progress Report has indicated that there were recommendations from Kaplan that were considered and ultimately rejected.[4]
There is significant untapped potential in the NCAA’s women’s sports programming, including lucrative financial opportunities that would further support women’s sports. According to estimates in the Kaplan report, their independent media expert estimated that the annual broadcast rights for the Women’s Basketball Championship alone will be worth between $81 and $112 million annually in 2025. Under the soon-expiring media deal, ESPN only paid $34 million annually for the rights to the tournament bundled with 29 other championships.[5] The current media rights negotiation is a major opportunity for the NCAA to make significant improvements in the broadcasting of women’s sports.
In 2021, revenue from women’s sports was more than $1 billion globally as a result of TV and sponsorships.[6] More than 14 million people in the United States tuned in to watch the FIFA Women’s World Cup Final in 2019, 22% more than the 11.4 million viewers for the Men’s World Cup Final the year before.[7] In 2021, the US Open’s women’s final brought in a 17% higher viewership than the men’s final that same year.[8] Women’s sports continue to grow larger every year and the NCAA can play an important role by implementing policies that allow their women’s teams to reach their full potential. Women’s sports viewership within the NCAA is also breaking records. In 2021, the Women’s College World Series made history with 1.85 million viewers. Last year, the Women’s Series averaged 1.7 million viewers and topped the Men’s College World Series final ratings.[9] The 2021 NCAA Women’s College Volleyball Championship match brought in a record high of 1.2 million viewers.[10]
With the adoption of the right policies, I know the NCAA can further foster the growth of women’s sports. Specifically, some of the changes I would hope to see to achieve this goal include:
Reconsidering the NCAA leadership structure so that the Vice President of Women’s Basketball reports directly to the President.
Ensuring the full revenue potential of Women’s Collegiate Basketball programming through fair and transparent revenue generation. This could include renegotiating the NCAA Men’s Basketball contract with CBS to allow for Women’s Basketball to solicit and directly generate revenue from sponsors. It is our understanding that the current CBS/Turner broadcasting contract with the NCAA for Men’s Basketball, which is in effect through 2032, precludes Women’s Basketball and other sports, outside of football, from directly generating revenue through corporate sponsors.
Restructuring revenue distribution for NCAA Women’s championships, like the Women’s Basketball Tournament, to make it similar and therefore equitable to the Men’s model. Based on the Kaplan report, it is our understanding that much of the revenue generated is redistributed back to member schools based on participation in the tournament and overall performance.[11] No such model exists for women's programming, creating a clear incentive for schools to invest significantly in their men’s programming, often at the expense of their women’s teams.
Increase the transparency around negotiations about broadcast and similar rights contracts as they relate to both Men’s and Women’s collegiate sports. For example, ensuring that corporate sponsors have a full understanding of where their investment is going in Men’s and Women’s programming.
Increased efforts to consider and implement all outstanding recommendations from the Kaplan report to ensure that current and any proposed future activities within the NCAA foster gender equity.
And this is only the beginning. Women’s sports only continue to increase in popularity and grow bigger with each year and I urge the NCAA to adapt to the excitement of student-athletes. For example, women’s wrestling has exploded nationally over the last decade. The number of women nationwide participating in wrestling has more than tripled in less than ten years. In my state of New Jersey, the number of women wrestling this year is about six times as many as eight years ago. When given the opportunity, women can and will thrive in just about any sport.
It is my sincere hope that under your new leadership, the NCAA can truly live up to the spirit of Title IX. I stand ready to partner with you in these efforts and am requesting to meet with you during your first 100 days so that we may discuss the path forward to addressing gender inequities within the NCAA.
Sincerely,
Mikie Sherrill
Member of Congress
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