ESPN selling men’s and women’s college basketball ad inventory at same price

The business of women’s college basketball is seemingly drawing even closer to the men’s game.

According to a report from Joe Lemire of Sports Business Journal, ESPN is now selling ad units for women’s college basketball for the same rate as its men’s college basketball ad inventory. The news comes from ESPN’s SVP of College, Nick Dawson. Per Lemire, “Featuring women’s games in primetime is now a revenue-neutral decision, which should continue to help exposure.”

ESPN SVP of College Nick Dawson said the network now sells ad units for men’s and women’s college basketball games at the same price.

Featuring women’s games in primetime is now a revenue-neutral decision, which should continue to help exposure.

— Joe Lemire (@LemireJoe) December 10, 2025

Of course, women’s basketball has been a rocket ship for ESPN and other broadcasters since the emergence of Caitlin Clark at Iowa a few short years ago. However, it’s rare that we get a glimpse inside the actual business behind the sport. The fact that primetime women’s college basketball games are now commanding the same ad rates as men’s games is a testament to the growing popularity of the sport.

The realization does call into question, however, whether women’s college basketball is now criminally undervalued from a media rights perspective. Just last year, the NCAA decided to sell the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament as part of its larger championship broadcast package, which includes dozens of non-revenue sports. ESPN purchased the package for $115 million per year, a far cry from the $1 billion per year the men’s tournament receives from CBS Sports and TNT Sports.

If women’s basketball is earning the same ad rates as men’s basketball, it’s difficult to believe the sport’s postseason should only be generating about one-tenth of the revenue that its men’s counterpart does.

To be sure, the ratings for men’s basketball are still higher than the women’s game. But that gap has closed considerably in recent years. Regular-season games on the men’s side averaged 968,000 viewers on ESPN last season. Women’s games on ESPN averaged 511,000 viewers during the same period.

Advertisers are certainly catching on to the ascendant women’s game, perhaps seeing it as an opportunity to target a female-skewing audience. Whatever the case may be, if ESPN sees scheduling a women’s game as “revenue-neutral” to that of a men’s game, expect to see more women’s hoops in marquee windows in the future.