Millions of viewers tune in to the NCAA March Madness tournament every year, bringing in billions of dollars in revenue, find out a breakdown of the revenue and how much money do conferences and schools receive from the total revenue
The March Madness is the concluding phase of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament, held every year.
March Madness tournament revenue, how much money do universities and schools receive and prize money
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March Madness revenue:
$1 Billion for the NCAA
$3.1 Billion for Sportsbooks
$300 Million for the host city of Houston
$0 for the players.This is exploitation.#MarchMadness #MarchMaddness #marchmadness2023 #socialistsunday pic.twitter.com/pZ6UK267x5
— Department of HomeGoods Security (@joemayall) April 2, 2023
HOW MUCH HOOPS $$$ IS LEFT ON THE TABLE:
The NCAA distributes March Madness revenue through subsidies across all levels of sport. If the A-5 confs took it over, there is a LOT of extra revenue available, though it is dwarfed by football revenue. Here is a potential breakdown: pic.twitter.com/7YfsbeVUOP— Tony Altimore (@TJAltimore) July 11, 2022
The NCAA makes over $1 billion on March Madness each year. The NCAA should pay the athletes that are generating all of this revenue a fair share. https://t.co/Kk04p6iDMc pic.twitter.com/PW9n451Er2
— Andrew Yang🧢⬆️🇺🇸 (@AndrewYang) March 22, 2019
The NCAA March Madness is currently in its final stages with just four teams remaining. The fixtures of those four teams are – San Diego State vs Florida Atlantic and UConn vs Miami.
March Madness revenue
The March Madness is the NCAA’s primary revenue source. It brings in millions of viewers and generates billions of dollars in revenue annually. Back in the 2021-22 academic year, the NCAA earned a total of $1.15 billion in revenue. The March Madness tournament accounted for nearly 90% of the total revenue amount.
The NCAA signed a 14-year, $10.8 billion contract with CBS Sports and Turner Broadcasting in 2010. The two parties later extended this deal in 2016 until 2032 for another $8.8 billion. Currently, the universities receive 90% of that revenue from the deal.
NCAA March Madness revenue breakdown
Around 68 teams take part in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament each year. The respective conferences have a “Basketball Performance Fund”, which totaled around $170 million last year.
Each team’s conference receives a payout for each game played in the tournament. The payout is based on the team’s performance over a six-year rolling period where teams receive “units” for their participation. The value of a unit value will rise by 3% every year.
Teams that enter the final round can receive as much as five units. Back in 2021, a unit was worth $337,141 and the performance fund for 2022, was reportedly $169.4 million. While this payout is just a bonus for the bigger conferences, it accounts as a major source of revenue for the smaller conferences.
Back in 2014, reports stated that smaller conferences receive around 20-25% of their total revenue from the March Madness tournament. This is irrespective of whether or not they make a deep run.
The NCAA has no control over how the conference distributes the earnings to the schools or universities. In general, the bigger conferences divide the equally money and send it to its member schools. However, for smaller conferences, they first use the money to cover their own expenses and then send the remainder to its member schools.
Aside from the Basketball Performance Fund, the NCAA also allots a part of the revenue into the Sports Scholarship Fund. This fund allows colleges and universities to award scholarships to promising athletes.
Last year, the fund received around $75.7 million following the 2022 March Madness tournament. Moreover, the Grants-in-Aid fund received around $148 million last year, which provides funding to student and sports programs. The NCAA uses the remaining money for administrative salaries and funding for other sports tournaments.
March Madness player earnings
College athletes are forbidden to earn money from playing college sports. However, in 2022, there was a small change in the rule regarding this. Following the change, athletes were allowed to sign endorsement deals, from where they can capitalize on their popularity.
College athletes can now endorse local restaurants or big brands and earn a certain amount. In theory, the biggest stars can earn enough income off their name, image, and likeness to pay for part of their tuition and other college expenses that their scholarships do not cover. This is however, not meant for every athlete.
Back in February 2022, student athletes in Division 1 schools earned an average amount of $561. The change gives student athletes an opportunity to profit from their hard work, while also helping them to cope with the high expenses of studying at a university.
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