NASHVILLE, Tenn.>> Women’s basketball teams finally will be paid for playing games in the NCAA Tournament each March just like the men have for years under a plan approved Wednesday at the NCAA convention.

The unanimous vote by NCAA membership, which was met by a round of applause, was the final step toward a pay structure for women playing in March Madness after the Division I Board of Governors voted unanimously for the proposal in August.

Now comes more work to continue investing in women’s basketball to grow the sport even more. “That’s the part I hope, that someday down the road, we all will have someone say about us that they sit on the shoulders of the work that we did,” NCAA President Charlie Baker said.

So-called performance units, which represent revenue, will be given to women’s teams playing in the tournament starting this year, the event’s 43rd edition. A team that reaches the Final Four could bring its conference roughly $1.26 million over the next three years in financial performance rewards. In the first year, $15 million will be awarded to teams out of the fund, which is 26% of the women’s basketball media revenue deal.

The women’s tournament is coming off its most successful year ever, which included a record audience of 18.7 million for the title game won by South Carolina over Iowa and Caitlin Clark.