The expenditure on women’s collegiate basketball teams in Orleans Parish for 2024 was $6,912,359, marking an 8.6% reduction from the prior year, U.S. Department of Education data show.
Total basketball expenditures for the county reached $16,573,304, with women’s teams accounting for $6,912,359.
Sports spending in Orleans Parish has climbed 126.9% since 2010.
Basketball, along with football, remains among the top college sports nationally, with leading NCAA programs attracting major fan followings and television audiences comparable to those of the NBA. Events like March Madness draw millions of viewers every year.
College athletes are entering a significant period of change in compensation, following a federal settlement that permits direct revenue sharing with players for the first time. The settlement also calls for the NCAA to pay $2.8 billion in back damages to athletes who competed from 2016 onward across a decade.
In 2022, long-standing legal actions and legislative developments led to policies allowing athletes to earn income from their name, image, and likeness through updates to NCAA rules and new state regulations.
The NCAA’s largest revenue source continues to be basketball, with about $900 million generated from media rights related to March Madness and the Division I men’s tournament in its 2024 fiscal year.
| Year | Basketball team’s expenditures | % from grand total sport team expenditures | Total Sport Team Expenditures |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | $6,912,359 | 9.7% | $70,994,755 |
| 2023 | $7,560,015 | 10.3% | $73,399,763 |
| 2022 | $4,406,984 | 7.4% | $59,574,782 |
| 2021 | $5,359,328 | 10.4% | $51,661,469 |
| 2020 | $5,199,093 | 10.4% | $50,031,721 |
Information in this story was obtained from the U.S. Department of Education. The source data can be found here.
