San Francisco State University in California spent $453,959 on women’s basketball programs in 2024, which is $194,633 less than the California state average of $648,592, according to the U.S. Department of Education.
This represented 5.9% of the university’s total athletics budget for 2024.
Total sports expenditures at San Francisco State University have climbed 123.4% since 2010.
Basketball remains one of the most followed collegiate sports in the nation, alongside football, with major NCAA teams drawing significant fan support and TV audiences that can compete with professional basketball. Tournaments like March Madness draw millions of viewers annually.
The landscape of college sports has shifted with athletes now able to receive compensation, following a federal settlement that lets schools directly share revenue with athletes. In addition to revenue sharing, the NCAA must pay $2.8 billion over 10 years in back damages to athletes who participated from 2016 onward.
In 2022, after prolonged legal challenges, student-athletes also secured the right to earn money off their name, image and likeness through state law changes and NCAA policies.
The NCAA reported about $900 million in revenue from March Madness and other Division I men’s basketball tournament media rights during fiscal year 2024, making these contests its primary revenue source.
| Year | Basketball team’s expenditures | % from grand total sport team expenditures |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $394,376 | 6.4% |
| 2022 | $393,310 | 6.6% |
| 2023 | $430,542 | 6.1% |
| 2024 | $453,959 | 5.9% |
Data for this story comes from the U.S. Department of Education. Access the original dataset here.
