TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Millions tuned in to watch women's basketball powerhouses UConn and South Carolina dominate in the Final Four on Friday. Many more watched Houston and Florida stun their opponents in the men's Final Four a day later.
Big East Commissioner Val Ackerman sees a world where both premier events happen in the same place.
It's not a new conversation, but Ackerman believes the exponential growth of women's basketball in a landscape long dominated by the men makes now an ideal time for a joint Final Four.
“You will get people to say that it shouldn’t happen," said Ackerman, who has been commissioner of the Big East since 2013. “That the women’s tournament is doing just fine. And that’s not without merit. I’m saying if the NCAA is looking for growth — and it is — and is looking for revenue growth — and it is. I can’t think of many ways you could accomplish that in a significant way versus in an incremental way than combining the two Final Fours."
The men and women’s basketball tournaments would hold their semifinals and title games in the same city on the same weekend, with similar staggered scheduling as there currently is. Though a combined Final Four likely couldn’t take place until at least 2032, with sites on both sides locked in until 2031.
NCAA President Charlie Baker isn't opposed to the idea, which would have to be approved by a committee of NCAA, but he acknowledged there would be challenges.
“It’s not something they don’t discuss," Baker said. "They do. I think there are two big issues with it. The biggest one is just finding a place that would be able to make that whole thing work. Just logistically (it) would be challenging.”
Combined Final Four could increase revenue opportunitiesCombining the tournaments was also recommended several years ago after an external review of gender disparities between the men's and women's tourneys. The scathing report was released in August 2021 by a law firm hired by the NCAA, sparked by social media and player complaints about glaring differences in amenities at the men's and women's sites.
Ackerman said the idea she's been pushing for over 10 years should at least be considered. She wrote a paper for the NCAA in 2013 proposing ideas for more equity in the championships, including combining both Final Fours.
With different sites, many commissioners, athletic directors and school officials find themselves having to choose which tournament to attend, Ackerman said. And because more ancillary events and sponsorship activations happen at the men's site, those officials often end up at that one instead of the women's tournament.
“There's a symbolism there that shouldn’t be overlooked,” Ackerman said, “which is, we’re trying to build women’s basketball. We need everybody on board to do that. We need the athletic directors here (at the women's tournament). ... We’re losing that sort of spiritual support, if you will, for women’s basketball because it’s head to head with the men’s Final Four, which is a magnet for all the networking and business activity.”
Ed Desser, the sports media executive who co-authored that 2021 gender equity analysis, said it makes financial sense to combine the tournaments, as it creates a central location for everyone, including NCAA staff, to operate from.
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