March Madness begins this week with the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament and Women's Basketball Tournament taking center stage. This will be the fourth time in the past 10 years that Yale has competed in the men's field. University of the Sacred Heart and Fairfield University will both be competing in the women's tournament for the second time in the past three seasons. The University of Connecticut achieved both in his fourth year in a row.
With 16 national championships under its belt, UConn's women's and men's basketball programs are consistently among the best in the state, as well as in the nation. UW's men's team is the defending national champion, and his two programs have won a total of five championships over the past 10 years.
But Smith College sports economist Andrew Zimbalist said the next decade will be even tougher for both programs now that boosters are allowed to pay players to play at their favorite schools. He said it was possible. Zimbalist said there are many wealthy schools that can pay more for the talent they want.
“One of the main reasons for this is the introduction of NIL (name, image and likeness) where athletes are paid and the formation of collectives, booster groups that pretend to be paying for athletes’ property rights and rights. ’ right of publicity,” Zimbalist said. “But what's really happening is they're getting paid for their ability to create wins on the field and on the basketball court.”
“Coaches will be able to go to the best players in the country and offer them a lot of NIL money — potentially $1 million or more. Without the ability to reach out to donors and alumni like some schools do, it's going to be increasingly difficult to attract the top stars in basketball, both on the men's side and the women's side.”
“Power 4” schools are universities that belong to the four richest sports conferences in America: the Big Ten, Big 12, Southeastern Conference (SEC), and Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). Formerly known as the Power Five. But starting in 2024, 10 of the Pac 12 schools will be in one of the other power conferences. What all 67 Power 4 schools have, and UW doesn't, is a revenue-producing football program.
“That (football) is the big moneymaker in college sports,” Zimbalist said. “For UConn, we’re at a huge disadvantage because we’re not in a conference.”
“Last year, I think UConn received $500,000 from CBS for the rights to broadcast football games. Compare that to what a Big Ten school could get,” he said.
In 2023, the Big Ten will sign a broadcast rights deal that Nielsen estimates will funnel between $80 million and $100 million to member schools over the life of the deal. “UW is at a huge disadvantage, and that's one of the reasons why UW Athletics is running a current account deficit,” he said.
Zimbalist said the school's appearance in the NCAA men's basketball tournament won't erase the athletic department's debt, but it should put some money in the coffers.
UW is part of the Big East Conference, whose 11 schools will each receive just over $545,000 this year for sending three teams to the NCAA Tournament. . For every additional game a men's team plays in the tournament, he is worth an additional $2 million a year for six years in that team's conference. Each $2 million payout will be split evenly among the Big East's 11 teams. And winning a second consecutive national championship could positively impact his UConn bottom line in other ways.
“This will probably be good PR for the school,” Zimbalist said. “This will probably generate additional applications, make it less likely that dorm beds will be empty during the year, and maybe make some of the potential for college alumni to donate directly to the athletics department or to the athletic department.” It's going to be expensive.'' Schools in general. ”
As for the other men's basketball teams participating in the 2024 NCAA Tournament, Yale has already given the Ivy League $2 million to host the tournament. And like UConn and other schools, he brings in an extra $2 million in revenue for each additional game the Bulldogs play until the Final Four.
“Of course, the Ivy League has eight schools instead of 11, divided into fewer schools,” Zimbalist said.
But Zimbalist said Yale probably needs less of that money than any other school in the tournament. Yale University's endowment exceeds $40 billion, making it the second largest university in the United States after Harvard University.
Unlike Connecticut's two men's basketball programs in the NCAA Tournament, none of the three women's programs, including Geno Auriemma's strong UConn team, will bring a windfall to their respective universities, Zimbalist said. .
“I think it’s going to change next year.”, But the amount allocated to women will be significantly lower,” Zimbalist said.
“The women's game garners a lot of attention and is hugely popular. But the NCAA is going against the grain, going against the traditional male habit of rewarding male sports heroes rather than female sports heroes. I’m just persistent.”
