Following Complaints, NCAA Initiates Inquiry Regarding March Madness Issues
Friday, March 26, 2021 at 02:52PM By Barry Janoff
March 26, 2021: Last week, in the throes of March Madness, the NCAA made news for the wrong reasons when women playing in the Div. I hoops tournament in the San Antonio bubble brought to light the discrepancies between their amenities and those afforded male athletes who were part of the Div. I hoops tournament in Indianapolis.
The biggest issues shared by the women were inadequate weight training facilities, the food quality in their hotels and the items in their “swag bag” compared to men’s basketball participants.
Now, the NCAA said it has initiated an external equity review of all championships, to be overseen by the law firm of Kaplan Hecker & Fink LLP, which the NCAA said “has significant experience in Title IX and gender equity issues.”
“The NCAA will continue to aggressively address material and impactful differences between the Div. I Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championships,” Mark Emmert, NCAA president, said via the organization.
“While many of the operational issues identified have been resolved, we must continue to make sure we are doing all we can to support gender equity in sports.
“As part of this effort, we are evaluating the current and previous resource allocation to each championship, so we have a clear understanding of costs, spend and revenue.”
The NCAA also showed in financial figures requested by The New York Times and ESPN that “the NCAA Div. I men's basketball championship budget for the 2018-19 season was $28 million while the women's was $14.5 million.” The NCAA points to "key differences in tournament structures" as a reason for the discrepancy.
According to ESPN, “The men generated $917.8 million, including media and ticket revenue, while the women generated $15.1 million, also including media and ticket revenue. Total attendance accounts for some of the disparity, as the men's basketball tournament had 690,000 fans, while the women's tournament had 275,000 fans.”
The men’s and women’s tournaments were not played in 2020 due to COVID-19 issues.
During a virtual media conference call last Friday (March 19), Lynn Holzman, NCAA vp-women’s basketball, addressed the issues raised by the student-athletes participating in this year’s tournament.
“As a former women’s basketball student-athlete, it’s always been my priority to make this event the best possible experience for everyone involved,” Holzman said. “We fell short this year in what we’ve been doing to prepare in the past 60 days for 64 teams to be here in San Antonio.”
During the media call, Dan Gavitt, NCAA svp-basketball, also acknowledged the discrepancies.
“We have intentionally organized basketball under one umbrella [at the NCAA] to ensure consistency and collaboration. When we fall short on these expectations, it’s on me,” Gavitt said.
“I apologize to women’s basketball student-athletes, coaches and the women’s basketball committee for dropping the ball on the weight rooms in San Antonio.”
“The NCAA will continue to aggressively address material and impactful differences between the Div. I Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championships."
According to Emmert, the NCAA is examining all championships in all three Divisions to “identify any other gaps that need to be addressed, both qualitatively and quantitively, to achieve gender equity.”
Kaplan Hecker & Fink will “evaluate our practices and policies and provide recommendations on steps we can take to get better.
“I have made clear that Kaplan Hecker and the staff supporting them will have direct access to the Board of Governors to discuss any issue that may arise during their work while Kaplan Hecker is conducting this review and assessment,” said Emmert.
The NCAA said it plans to have preliminary assessments in late April, with a final report this summer after all of our championships are completed.
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