In 2024, Academy of Art University in San Francisco, California, assigned $905,959 to its women’s basketball teams, surpassing the statewide average expenditure of $648,592 by $257,367, as reported by the U.S. Department of Education.
This allocation represented 9.6% of the university’s total sports team spending for 2024.
The university’s overall sports spending has grown by 94% since 2010.
Basketball ranks among the most-followed college sports in the U.S., in line with football, as high-profile NCAA programs enjoy strong fan bases and TV ratings comparable to those of professional leagues like the NBA. Annual tournaments such as March Madness draw audiences in the millions.
College athletics has moved into a new landscape for athlete compensation following a federal settlement that enables schools to share revenue directly with players for the first time. This deal also obligates the NCAA to pay $2.8 billion over the next 10 years as back damages to athletes who competed from 2016 onward.
By 2022, after significant legal and legislative momentum, athletes were also permitted to earn money from their names, images and likenesses through the combination of state laws and NCAA policy revisions.
The NCAA reported around $900 million in revenue from March Madness and Division I men’s basketball tournament media rights in fiscal year 2024, reinforcing basketball as the association’s primary revenue source.
| Year | Basketball team’s expenditures | % from grand total sport team expenditures |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $735,798 | 9.3% |
| 2021 | $663,142 | 10.1% |
| 2022 | $741,225 | 9.8% |
| 2023 | $819,238 | 9.6% |
| 2024 | $905,959 | 9.6% |
Information in this story comes from the U.S. Department of Education. The full source data can be accessed here.
