Report Recommends NCAA Give Schools Financial Incentives to Improve Women's Basketball

A law firm that investigated the NCAA for gender equity concerns released a report Tuesday recommending that the organization offer financial incentives to schools to improve women's basketball programs, the Associated Press reported. The report, compiled by Kaplan Hecker & Fink LLP, also recommended that the NCAA host the men's and women's Final Fours at the same site.

"With respect to women's basketball, the NCAA has not lived up to its stated commitment to 'diversity, inclusion and gender equity among its student-athletes, coaches and administrators,'" the report said.

Kaplan Hecker & Fink was hired in March 2021 after the NCAA provided more amenities to the men's Division I basketball teams than the women's teams that participated in the tournament, the Associated Press reported. One of the main concerns was that the women's teams playing in San Antonio weren't given access to a full weight training facility like the one provided to men's teams in Indianapolis.

For more reporting from the Associated Press, see below.

In 2021, both tournaments were held in single sites because of the pandemic.

The report noted disparities were not confined to just this year's tournaments and noted that the bedrock financial deal for the NCAA and its member schools is partly to blame: Kaplan said NCAA's structure and systems "are designed to maximize the value of and support to the Division I Men's Basketball Championship as the primary source of funding for the NCAA and its membership."

NCAA revenues surpassed $1 billion in the year before the pandemic and most of that was tied to the media rights deal with CBS and Turner for the men's basketball tournament.

The NCAA has struggled on the topic of equity for the two marquee tournaments for years and suggestions have been made before to make improvements. But what happened this year forced the issue to the fore all over again.

The Kaplan report found the problems with the weight room and other disparities between the two events, such as COVID-19 testing protocols, meals, signage and outdoor recreation, stemmed mainly from a lack of staffing of the women's tournament and coordination between organizers of the two events.

"The women's basketball staff member responsible for credentials, game operations and approximately 30 other tasks had approximately eight men's basketball counterparts with whom she was in theory supposed to coordinate," the report said.

Emmert and others apologized and ordered the investigation. Other complaints surfaced at the women's volleyball tournament in Omaha, Nebraska, and the Women's College World Series in Oklahoma City.

The review called for annual assessments by the NCAA for the next five years to track progress on gender equity.