Women get a fairer slice of March Madness after last year's outcry

Prince's TikTok post last March went viral, juxtaposing the dozen or so dumbbells the women had with the convention hall packed with benches and racks of weights for the men.

The NCAA was blasted from every corner to do much, much better.

"It was painful," Duke athletic director and NCAA women's tournament committee chair Nina King said last month. "But a huge opportunity."

This year's NCAA women's basketball tournament has looked different — and those changes from similar branding to gameday fan atmosphere similar to the men are on full display at Minneapolis' Final Four this week.

The video last year added fuel to a long-time gender equity movement in sports.

So far, the biggest changes this year were having the "March Madness" brand used to promote both the men's and women's NCAA tournaments, the women's field expanding to 68 teams to match their men's counterparts and all athletes receiving the same gifts and meals — plus similar Final Four lounges for players and families at team hotels.

Prince was back in the NCAA tournament this year with Oregon. She thanked the NCAA for listening.

"Our sport has done a lot to make improvements," said Prince, a 6-7 junior forward. "They've made changes. That's all we wanted."

Following last season, the NCAA commissioned the Kaplan Hecker & Fink law firm to conduct a gender equity review — and the findings released in August were blistering.

The 114-page review detailed drastic inequities for the women's game, estimating a $35 million difference in spending for the men's tournament, and simply calling out the NCAA for prioritizing Division I men's basketball over its counterpart.

The debate about differences between NCAA men's and women's basketball gained enormous momentum with Prince last year, but the fight is ongoing. And it comes at a pivotal time with the 50-year anniversary of Title IX this season.

"I want to be optimistic," said Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer, whose team is back in the Final Four. "What we experienced last year was really painful. I can't say that last year I felt that the [NCAA's] heart was in it."

UConn coach Geno Auriemma and his program had been the closest thing to a college hoops dynasty in the last few decades, but never did you hear "March Madness" during the Huskies' 11 national title runs.

The NCAA disallowed the trademark phrase to represent the NCAA women's tournament until this year.

Auriemma is all for enhancing the experience for players. The Hall of Famer understands "how [the tournament's] presented and all that seems to be really, really important." But he acknowledged the gender inequities weren't front of mind to him previously.

"Until last year, it never occurred to me that we did or didn't have it," Auriemma said before UConn's first-round game this season. "I found out all these things last year, and so if it's important to a lot of people, and it matters and it's significant, great. I'm all for it."

Whether a big help on the court or not, the equal branding and weight equipment were part of a check list for the NCAA tournament experience to be as equal as possible this time around.

It started with Selection Sunday including both men's and women's teams for the first time since 2005. The women's bracket was released later on the same night March 13, instead of the following night.

In early March, the NCAA showed reporters side-by-side comparisons for men and women throughout the tournament from the First Four to the Final Four. They included equal lounges for athletes and their families, tournament awards, gifts packages and mementos. They prioritized having the same in-venue experience, including player intros and locker rooms.

Signage and branding for all of the rounds are relatively uniform. TV broadcasts cross-promoted both the men's and women's tournaments. And social media accounts for "March Madness" now exist for both men and women.

Fans participating in the women's Final Four activities in Minneapolis also get to experience the same atmosphere as the men's event in New Orleans. A 3D bracket structure downtown will present photo opportunities, along with practices for the two semifinal winners open to the public on "Super Saturday."

Training equipment differences became a hot issue last season, including photos posted on social media by a staff member from Stanford, which won the women's national title.

The NCAA pointed out how unique playing in the bubble was last season. Teams were forced to work out in a controlled environment in San Antonio (women) and Indianapolis (men).

Weight rooms had not been previously set up by the NCAA for the men's and women's tournaments before last year. And it reverted back to that this season. Individual programs found options to train at local facilities or off-site practices at tournament locations.

The NCAA expects feedback on the improvements after the season ends in Minneapolis.

"Success is an equitable experience for men's and women's student-athletes participating in this championship," King said. "So we're really excited about these enhancements and watching how they play out. Looking forward to having a pain-free Final Four and championship."

The worst case scenario for the NCAA would have been for another Prince-like social media shaming incident during the 2022 tourney to damage the credibility the organization had hoped to build with changes.

The Division I Women's Basketball Student-Athlete Engagement Group, formed two years ago, includes one player from each conference. Those representatives met with the NCAA this season to discuss what was missing and provide more feedback during this year's tournament.

"That group was also utilized to provide input for the student-athlete lounges and the amenities in there," said Lynn Holzman, NCAA vice president of women's basketball. "One of the notable things is our student-athletes need to also be focused on playing in the championships. We certainly do not want to be intrusive."

Besides the athletes who spoke out, Washington lawmakers expressed their frustration with gender equity issues involving college sports with a six-page letter in mid-March sent to NCAA President Mark Emmert.

Holzman currently reports to Dan Gavitt, who is the NCAA's senior vice president of basketball and runs the NCAA men's tournament. Gavitt admitted that the two tournament committees dropped the ball on staying connected in the past, especially when all teams were in a bubble during the pandemic last year.

"For whatever reason, the two committees have kind of operated independently," Gavitt said last month. "[It's] one of the really powerful recommendations from the gender-equity report, and I think it has born a great fruit. You've got a lot more attention being given to how these championships are delivered and how to achieve equity in the decision-making."

The NCAA reportedly spent $53.2 million on the NCAA men's tournament and $17.9 million for the women's tournament in 2019, according to Kaplan's research.

Gavitt couldn't give an exact figure on how much more was invested into changes to the women's tournament this year, but he estimated it was "in the millions."

One of more than a dozen recommendations from the August gender equity report was to combine the Final Four for men and women.

Leaders on both sides quickly tabled that idea to avoid canceling the Minneapolis event. Final Four sites are set through 2026, but "the door is not shut" on same location talks, King said.

In 1989, the NCAA men's tournament was held in Seattle with the women's tournament less than 40 miles away in Tacoma, Wash.

"I don't see the harm in trying it," said Gophers coach Lindsay Whalen, who played in the 2004 Final Four. "I think it would be cool to have a combination of the four best women's teams and four best men's teams in the same place. For that city, it would generate a ton of buzz and it would be really cool."

The NCAA men's basketball tournament is worth billions of dollars through TV rights, but it's uncertain how much the women's tourney could produce on its own.

ESPN purchased the broadcast deal for the NCAA women's tournament with 23 other championships in 2011 for $500 million. That contract is up after the 2023-24 season.

"Those rights are likely undervalued," Gavitt said. "Division I women's basketball [is] right at the top of that list … So we'll see how that plays out."