In 2024, Boston College in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, spent $6,381,451 on its women’s basketball teams. The figure is $5,848,525 above the state average expenditure of $532,926, according to the U.S. Department of Education.
This made up 4.7% of the school’s total athletic expenditures for 2024.
Boston College’s total sports expenses have grown by 115.8% since 2010.
Basketball ranks among the most popular college sports in the United States along with football, with major NCAA programs attracting fan bases and television audiences comparable to NBA viewership. Events like March Madness bring in millions of viewers each year.
College sports has entered a new phase for athlete compensation following a federal settlement that enables schools to directly give revenue to players for the first time. The settlement also obligates the NCAA to pay $2.8 billion over 10 years to athletes who played from 2016 onward.
By 2022, after significant legal and legislative actions, athletes were also granted the ability to earn income from their names, images and likenesses due to changes at the state level and updates to NCAA policies.
The NCAA reported about $900 million in revenue from March Madness and media rights for the Division I men’s basketball tournament during fiscal year 2024, making basketball the primary revenue driver for the organization.
| Year | Basketball team’s expenditures | % from grand total sport team expenditures |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $3,942,317 | 4.5% |
| 2021 | $3,687,363 | 4.5% |
| 2022 | $4,384,462 | 4.6% |
| 2023 | $5,229,251 | 4.4% |
| 2024 | $6,381,451 | 4.7% |
Information for this report was obtained from the U.S. Department of Education. The source data is available here.
