DeSchriver is an associate professor at UD's Alfred Lerner College of Business and Economics in the Department of Hospitality and Sport Business Management. An expert in sport finance, economics and marketing with a focus on professional and collegiate athletics, he is closely watching the explosion of NIL deals.  Some of his research has focused on player experience in March Madness and valuation analysis of corporate naming rights for collegiate sports venues.

“I think social media gives the athletes the ability to go directly to the consumers,” DeSchriver said. ”For example, in the past, if you were an athlete and you wanted to get the word out about yourself, kind of create your own personal brand, or even bring more attention to your sport or your league, you had to go through that funnel of traditional media.” 

That media, he added, pushed the narrative that they presented stories or brands that people wanted to see, which focussed heavily around men, but we are seeing that that is not the case now.

“I teach sports marketing and when we talk about women in sports, it’s a market that’s always been there, but that’s been untapped,” DeSchriver said. “So now people are realizing the potential of women’s sport, whether it’s March Madness, the WNBA or the women’s national soccer team, they’re realizing that there’s demand for these sports. It's like growing a plant. You must water it.”

The numbers suggest why the market might see more value in women’s college basketball. ESPN reported 4.1 million viewers for the 2021 women’s championship game between Stanford and Arizona. It was the most viewed women’s championship game since 2014. Additionally, it was the most viewed women’s Final Four weekend since 2012 and the most viewed Sweet 16 since 2013.

Recent social media outrage is one trigger for the interest that the NCAA has placed on women’s college basketball, DeSchriver said. He alluded to University of Oregon player Sedona Prince’s 2021 TikTok video illustrating the vast disparity between the women’s and men’s weight rooms and practice facilities. It showed one paltry weight post with dumb bells attached to it for women, in contrast with the men’s room, which looked like a professional sports team’s practice facility with multiple workout stations and weight lifting benches.

“The NCAA looked pretty bad last year in terms of showing the weight rooms for the men, and showing the women and it's one dumbbell in the corner,” DeSchriver said. “So they're making progress in that area, but still have a long way to go.” 

What’s next?

In addition to highlighting increased viewership for the women’s tournament in 2021, the NCAA took notice of Prince’s video and responded to it. For the first time in history, the NCAA is using its trademarked “March Madness” slogan for marketing and branding around the 2022 Division I Women’s Tournament. It will end with the Final Four in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Friday, April 1 and Sunday, April 3. Also for the first time, the women’s tournament began with a four-team play-in round, referred to as the First Four, bringing the tournament's total number of teams to 68, like the men’s tournament. 

NCAA organizers said this move was a big step toward rectifying gender inequity between the women’s and men’s tournament, which has traditionally garnered the most attention from the organization, fans and media. 

“I would say it's still not equal but they're trying to get that gap to be as small as possible,” DeSchriver said. “All the women’s games are on ABC/ESPN, either over the air, cable, or streamed, so that’s great that they’re getting that exposure….  there’s still more work to be done, but they’re heading in the right direction.”

The 2020 NCAA tournament was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic. It sent emotional and financial shockwaves to colleges across the country. In 2021, the tournament was scaled back. The entire women’s tournament was played in San Antonio, Texas, without fans in the arenas. The 2021-22 regular season was impacted by canceled games because of COVID-19, but fans have returned to celebrate female athletes.

Using the March Madness phrase for the women’s tournament branding is part of a bigger push on multiple fronts. Corporate investments have increased drastically. ESPN will air the entire women’s tournament through their assortment of networks. New advertising opportunities have presented themselves. The NCAA has invested in more resources for female athletes from training facilities to support staff needed for events and swag that athletes get for participating.

As far as NIL deals go, women’s college basketball players are starting to find solid ground. According to Opendorse, a leading technology provider in the athletic endorsement industry, women’s basketball is second behind college football in NIL compensation among college sports. From July 1, 2021 to Dec. 31, women’s college basketball accounted for 26.2% of total compensation, which was 8% higher than men’s basketball. A more up to date study, which tracked deals through Feb. 28 2022, shows that women’s college basketball is still second behind football at 18.5%.  

University of Arizona forward, senior Cate Reese, who helped the Wildcats reach the women’s final last year, recently signed an NIL deal with Newegg, a California-based online retailer for PC hardware, gaming equipment and consumer electronics. Reese, who was named the 2022 Naismith Women’s College Basketball Player of the Year Midseason Team, will represent Newegg during the women’s tournament.

Closer to home, players, such as UD sophomore guard and entrepreneurship major, Tyi Skinner, a student in the Lerner College, is leveraging her entrepreneurial spirit with her athletic mindset to launch her own clothing brand Dif3rnt Breed, which can be found on Instagram. 

Women are being featured on major networks playing a sport that they love, and people who look like them get to enjoy watching them play. There are female coaches for men’s and women’s professional and collegiate sports. All-female officiating crews have called sports games, and female sports commentators are featured analysts for major sporting events.

“The idea of young girls having role models,” DeSchriver said, “whether it’s on the court, being referees, being commentators, even outside of sport, if a woman wants to get into business and sees a woman who’s the CEO of a Fortune 500 company, that the concept of young people having role models who have paved the way for them, it gives them hope that they can achieve the same thing, and hopefully even more.”