March Madness Daily: It's Déjà vu
There's a new pool of money available to conferences this March. And yes, the SEC is getting the biggest share.
Welcome back to Club Sportico, where we break down the intersection of sports and money—with an extra bit of humor and opinion. Today, we’re chanting writing about a first for women’s hoops.
Eben: Stop me if this sounds familiar. The NCAA gives out money to conferences based on their performance in March Madness, and this year, the SEC earned more than any other league.
Yes, I wrote about the SEC’s record men’s haul in yesterday’s post. Today, we’re talking about the SEC also leading the field in women’s payouts.
While the men’s tournament “units” structure has been in place since 1991, this is the first time that the NCAA will be rewarding conferences for their women’s participation. The shift in policy was developed over the past 12 months, following years of criticism about unequal treatment of the tournaments, and a new $920 million TV deal with ESPN.
It’s a much smaller pool of money, but one that will eventually grow in lockstep with the men’s pool. While games played in the 2025 men’s tournament will be worth about $2 million over time, games played in the 2025 women’s tournament will be worth around $252,00. Lev and I broke it down this morning in detail for Sportico, but here’s the full table for the women’s tournament 👇
The SEC had ten teams in the tournament with two still alive—South Carolina 🐔and Texas 🐮. The conference will eventually make $7.6 million from this tournament’s success. The Big Ten, which has UCLA 🐻 still alive, is next at $7.1 million. And look at the Ivy League 🌿 finishing in sixth!
I’ll end with one final promotion for something cool we made last year. If you’re really curious about how this payout system works, watch this whiteboard explainer. The women’s tournament will work the same, but on three-year cycles and not six-year cycles.
Programming note: We’ll be sending daily business nuggets throughout the NCAA tournaments. If that’s not your thing, you can opt out of daily March Madness posts by updating your settings here or with the button below. We’ll return to normal programming in April.
Club Sportico is a community organized by Sportico, a digital media company launched in 2020 to cover the business side of sports. You can read breaking news, smart analysis, and in-depth features from Eben, Jacob and their colleagues at Sportico.com, and listen to the Sporticast podcast wherever you get your audio. Contact us at club@sportico.com.