Let me make a statement. The NCAA holds the Regionals close to UConn because UConn sells out....
The NCAA lost money on the womens NCAAT in 2019, the last year unaffected by covid.
The NCAA makes all of its BB profits on the mens NCAAT.
"But in a summary of financial data first provided to
The New York Times and
ESPN, and later obtained by Yahoo Sports, the NCAA attempted to justify that budget disparity, and said that its 2019 women’s basketball tournament
lost $2.8 million, the “largest loss of any NCAA championship” event.
The NCAA released figures for its 2019 basketball tournaments, the last ones unaffected by the pandemic, amid
uproar over inequities between its 2021 men’s and women’s tournaments. Figures for the 2021 tournaments are expected to be relatively similar.................."
In a financial summary obtained by Yahoo Sports, the NCAA attempted to justify the disparity between the two tournament budgets.
www.yahoo.com
I think that it's safe to say that TV money dwarfs any other income received from both tournaments.
The mens NCAAT TV money will grow to over $1 billion in 2025 from $850 million now, while the womens only presently receives just over $41.8 million in TV money.
The mens NCAAT subsidizes the womens NCAAT which makes the argument about attendance money largely moot.
It's the same with the WNBA which has always lost money, and is why it needs to be subsidized by the NBA.
Differences between the men's and women's NCAA tournaments have come under scrutiny. There are even bigger disparities in the finances.
www.sportico.com