Women鈥檚 basketball teams in the NCAA Tournament for the first time will be getting an individual share of the March Madness revenue pie.
Women鈥檚 teams will earn financial incentives, known as units, for playing in the tournament. It is one of the final that was missing between the men鈥檚 and women鈥檚 tournament. In the past, schools received no financial reward other than the NCAA covering the cost of a team鈥檚 expenses to play in the tournament.
The formula can be complicated, but the bottom line is conferences will receive $113,000 for each game a women鈥檚 team plays in the NCAA Tournament. The conferences will divvy that money up to their schools however they see fit.
Last season's women's tournament was the most successful ever, which included a for the title game won by South Carolina over Iowa and . The Gamecocks and Hawkeyes didn't receive a dime from the NCAA for their efforts last year.
Now that will change.
What is a March Madness unit?
鈥淯nits鈥� are what the NCAA calls its tally of wins, automatic qualifiers and at-large bids that determine how much conferences are paid.
A unit is money paid to conferences when one of its teams appears in the NCAA Tournament.
The women鈥檚 March Madness financial incentive program is now similar to the men鈥檚 basketball South Carolina coach Dawn Staley was one of the most outspoken advocates for the women's teams to get the same financial rewards men's teams receive.
Each of 32 conferences that receive an automatic bid to the tournament now receives a unit, and additional units are rewarded for teams that receive at-large bids.
A team will earn an additional unit for every game it plays in the tournament this year up until the title game.
Do players get any money from the unit share?
Currently the money generated by units is only disbursed to the school. However, that could change as NIL and revenue sharing with student-athletes continues to evolve.
Where does the money for unit shares come from?
Units are paid to conferences by the NCAA from revenue generated mostly through TV deals.
The NCAA signed a which values the women鈥檚 basketball tournament at $65 million annually. There will be $15 million awarded to teams in the first year of the fund, which is 26% of the women鈥檚 basketball media revenue deal. That number will grow to $25 million, which is 41% of the revenue, by 2028. The 26% is on par with what men鈥檚 basketball teams received the first year the performance units program was established.
After reaching the fully funded amount of $25 million, the funds will grow at the same rate as all other Division I funds, which is approximately 2.9% each year.
The women have a higher percentage of the media revenue deal to bolster the value of each performance unit.
Do schools get the full amount of unit shares?
Conferences receive money from the units and divide it among its member schools.
The units earned by participating teams is paid to the schools鈥� respective conference offices starting in 2026 on a rolling three-year basis. A unit this year is worth just over $113,000 and a total of $251,000 for the three years. The Big Ten has a record 12 teams in the tournament and if somehow none of them wins a game, they've already earned $3 million for the conference.
If an individual team makes the Final Four this season, it could earn over $1.25 million for its conference. It's up to the conference to decide how to divvy up the money earned to each of its member schools.
In comparison, a men鈥檚 unit for the 2024 tournament was worth $2 million total for a six-year rolling basis. The men have an $8.8 billion deal over eight years.
How to win March Madness units
The units come from two funds. The Equal Conference Fund is a baseline through which the NCAA awards one unit to each of the 32 Division I conferences that have an automatic bid. Through the performance fund, the NCAA also awards a single unit to every team that makes the tournament via an at-large berth.
There are 68 women's teams that make the tournament; each accounts for one unit just for getting in.
Units are also awarded from the performance fund for teams that advance. One unit is awarded for every win until teams reach the Final Four. Wins in the semifinals or final don鈥檛 count for units.
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Doug Feinberg, The Associated Press
