March Madness will pay women’s teams under a new NCAA structure

NEWS+NOTES

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NCAA President Charlie Baker speaks during the organizations Division I Business Session at their annual convention on Wednesday in Nashville. GEORGE WALKER IV — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

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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 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, so-called performance units, which represent revenue, will be given to women’s teams playing in the tournament. A women’s basketball 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. That will grow to $25 million, or 41% of the revenue, by 2028. The 26% is on par with what men’s basketball teams received the first year the performance units program was established.

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