“Don’t understand why people think we can’t be a billion dollar industry”: When Dawn Staley showed “frustration” about women basketball’s 1 inability

In an interview with Forbes from August 2024, Dawn Staley expressed her frustration over the underinvestment in women's sports. When talking about the exponential growth in women's basketball, the interviewer mentioned that fans spent an estimated $4 billion on women's college basketball merchandise last season.

Staley was asked how much the NCAA has lost because of its inability to capitalize on this rise, and she said (02:38):

"Well, I think that's been my frustration, as the years have gone by where we don't capitalize. I don't understand why people think we can't be a billion dollar industry.

"We can be, and people are seeing it now, were very popular. It's probably not too late, but a little late. If you're really trying to get a return of your investment."

Dawn Staley also highlighted the impact of Caitlin Clark, who she called "a unifier", noting the former Iowa Hawkeyes guard's instrumental role in attracting a diverse audience to college basketball.

In the interview, Staley also reflected upon her career and the challenges she faced post-college, including limited opportunities in the US. She played four years with the Virginia Cavaliers from 1988 to 1992. Since the WNBA was only established in 1997, Dawn Staley, like many during her time, had to choose a career overseas.

"I had to wait a few months because guards of my stature, meaning short guards, don't get the opportunity to go right away," she said. "You have to replace somebody so I had to wait until somebody didn't do their job well and they needed another guard ... I replaced somebody and that's how it was. I signed for $35,000; it was my first contract."

In January, Dawn Staley negotiated a landmark $25.25 million contract, making her the highest-paid coach in women's college basketball.

Dawn Staley's South Carolina seeding in the NCAA tournament revealed

NCAA Womens Basketball: Arkansas at South Carolina - Source: Imagn

The NCAA Tournament committee announced the second in-season bracket reveal on Thursday and the South Carolina Gamecocks are No. 2 seed. They are No. 5 overall and are placed in the Birmingham 4 Region. The other teams in this bracket include No. 1 seed Notre Dame, No. 3 Tennessee, and No. 4 Oklahoma.

While they were at the top in the first bracket reveal, the jump down came after the loss to UConn on Feb. 16. Since then, South Carolina has secured wins over Arkansas, Vanderbilt and Ole Miss. Dawn Staley's team will play its final regular season game on Sunday against No. 14 Kentucky. The official tournament bracket will be announced on Selection Sunday, March 16.