“We could stand on our own”: When $12 million worth Dawn Staley appealed to invest more than $300 million in women’s basketball like men’s

South Carolina coach Dawn Staley has been an outspoken advocate for greater investment in women's basketball. As a coach and former player, Staley has witnessed firsthand the funding disparities between men's and women's NCAA programs.

In Jan. 2024, the three-time national champion coach sat down with sports reporter Jamele Hill to discuss her journey, the state of women's basketball and her campaign for pay equity.

"One of these days, women's basketball is going to be a sport," Staley said (24:52). "What I mean by that is, I don't know if y'all understand — like, it's men's basketball and the NCAA tournament, and then they put all the other sports into this one pot of money. It's probably $300 and something million to put on championships."

"And then men's basketball is a billion-dollar — I mean, billions. But they only negotiate the $300 and something million for all these other sports."

"If they let women's basketball stand alone, away from those other sports, we could generate a whole lot of money. We could stand on our own if you invest in women's basketball like you do men's basketball."

The NCAA roughly generates $1.3 billion in revenue annually, but more than two-thirds of that revenue comes from the men's basketball tournament. Their TV deals with CBS and Warner Bros. Discovery account for about $900 million per year.

In contrast, women's basketball generates only a fraction of that. As a result, the NCAA does not allocate the same level of resources and marketing support to the women's tournament.

The NCAA invests over $660 million directly into Division I men's basketball programs, while around $300 million is allocated to other championships, including the women's tournament.

Dawn Staley applauds NCAA decision to pay women’s basketball tournament teams

On Jan. 15, the NCAA announced that it would pay women's basketball teams for participating in its annual postseason tournament.

The decision was a massive win for women's sports and a long-overdue change. Few were more excited about the news than Dawn Staley, who has been a vocal advocate for equal treatment and resources for women's basketball.

"YES!" Dawn Staley said when asked about her initial reaction to the news. "This continues our fight to lift women's basketball to historic levels. I appreciate the decision by the Kaplan Hecker and Fink law firm."

From the 2024-25 season, Division I women's teams that qualify for the NCAA tournament will receive a portion of a $15 million pot, with the amount growing to $25 million by 2028.