You might have noticed that Iowa’s win over South Carolina in the Women’s Final Four on ESPN set numerous television ratings records and represented a milestone moment in the growth of women’s hoops as a commercial product.
Before Iowa played LSU on Sunday afternoon in the women’s national championship game, the new president of the NCAA spoke about the big opportunity which sits in front of the organization as it tries to make more money for its member schools.
Charlie Baker, who recently replaced Mark Emmert as the president of the NCAA, addressed the idea of separating the Women’s NCAA Tournament from other NCAA sports championships as a media property. This move, if executed, could establish a high market value for the event and untether it from other sports.
Creating a standalone Women’s NCAA Tournament would presumably enable the NCAA to establish the win-unit structure the men’s tournament currently uses. This would provide a vehicle for pumping millions of dollars in new revenue into conferences and their schools.
This is something Pac-12 journalist Jon Wilner has covered and written about for years. We have noted his reporting and analysis and have followed this particular story.
Here’s what Charlie Baker had to say over the weekend, before the LSU-Iowa game on Sunday:
“I think the biggest opportunity there — and I would argue that the investments that have been made in the women’s game have had a tremendous return to the women’s game and to the players and the coaches and everybody else — is the fact that the timing on the bid associated with this is perfect,” Baker told reporters at the men’s Final Four in Houston on Saturday. “Basically, this thing is going out this year and it’s going out on the heels of what will have been the most successful tournament. … Let’s see what the market thinks it’s worth. I think the market is going to think it’s worth a lot.”
Pac-12 schools and athletic departments can’t wait to get their hands on a piece of this revenue pie.
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