Was keeping women's basketball tournament part of NCAA media rights bundle smart move?
After the wildly successful NCAA women’s basketball tournament concluded with the most-watched women’s game ever – 9.9 million viewers for LSU–Iowa – a critical question loomed: How best to financially capitalize on the increasing value of the event?
More specifically, was it time for the NCAA to unbundle the women’s tournament from 28 other championship events (all except FBS football and men’s basketball) in the media rights package with ESPN, which pays the NCAA only $34 million annually in a deal that expires this year?
South Carolina women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley, and others, endorsed selling the women’s tournament as a standalone property. However, several TV and media rights experts told On3 that it would be prudent to maintain the bundle.
As it turned out, the NCAA kept the women’s tournament as part of a bundle – a larger bundle that will generate significantly more revenue in a $920 million, eight-year deal with ESPN to broadcast 40 championships. That equates to $115 million per year.
“I’m sure ESPN used its leverage with the other NCAA championships – which have only limited revenue prospects – to make the deal for the women’s basketball tournament that is a nice increase but not what the NCAA could have realized if it had bid out those rights separately,” Neal Pilson, the former longtime president of CBS Sports told On3 on Thursday.
“For major sports properties – and I consider the women’s tournament a major property – the bid process almost always generates more revenue than simply re-negotiating with the current rightsholder. I expect women’s sports groups will make that point and criticize the deal. However, all the other women’s sports under the NCAA umbrella will benefit from the package with the tournament.”
Women’s basketball tournament value: $65 million
It could be a deal that lifts all ships.
The deal encompasses 21 women’s and 19 men’s sports. It also guarantees that the women’s national championship basketball game – and a host of other championships – will be broadcast on ABC. Last season’s women’s basketball title game was the first broadcast on network TV since 1995.
Justin Beitler, senior analyst, media rights consulting at Octagon, told On3 in recent months, “The solution is to keep it all together, but at the same time, have a specific public allocation for the women’s basketball championships piece, so everyone understands the kind of value or the going rate of this tournament.”
That’s exactly what happened.
Consulting firm Endeavor, which worked with the NCAA, valued the NCAA women’s tournament at $65 million annually. Other third parties have given the women’s tournament a higher valuation.
The Kaplan Report, whose authors the NCAA enlisted to investigate gender equity issues, estimated that women’s tournament rights alone are worth between $81 million and $112 million annually.
Navigate, which specializes in college and pro sports rights valuations, provided On3 last spring with data that indicated fair market value for the women’s tournament as a standalone property is $105 million annually.
Also of note: NCAA members will finally explore revenue distribution units for the women’s basketball tournament, a potential policy change leading stakeholders have long endorsed.