ESPN’s stranglehold on NCAA Division I championship broadcast rights could be relinquished next August when its deal ends and two-time national champion head coach Dawn Staley wants other networks to create more competition in order to drive revenue for women’s college hoops.
The South Carolina legend spoke with Boardroom this week ahead of the Gamecocks’ matchup with Notre Dame in Paris, calling on other broadcasters to “show ESPN our worth.”
“Women’s basketball is bursting through the seams,” Staley said. “It’s all based on competition, and the best players are playing the very best basketball, which is putting more eyeballs on our game.
“We need more networks to compete for our talents. And I don’t know if that’s happening, but I hope that’s happening in the near future.”
Staley explained that the attention from being on ESPN helped the sport grow, but women’s basketball is ready to be an even bigger revenue driver for networks that pursue it. The NCAA notoriously lumps in the NCAA women’s basketball tournament with all the other national championship events in its $40 million deal with ESPN.
After 9.9 million viewers tuned in to watch the NCAA tournament final this past spring, ESPN/ABC still refused the chance to put the 2024 final in primetime. The game will again air midday on ABC.
The NCAA receives lucrative rights payments for the men’s tournament, split between Paramount Global and Warner Bros. Discovery.
“We need other networks to show our worth,” Staley told host Eddie Gonzalez. “And to show ESPN our worth. ESPN knows our worth, but if there’s no competition, you’re not going to throw hundreds of millions of dollars into our sport if nobody’s competing for us in that space.”
A study conducted by the NCAA last year indicated the women’s tourney alone could be worth six figures by 2025. Add in a few bidders and the marketplace could force the valuation up even higher.
“If we’re still with ESPN, great,” Staley said. “They’ve been with us for a very long time. But it doesn’t work without competition.”
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