Sports update! NCAA women got higher ratings, but were paid 99% less than the men's basketball program

Photo above - Pop quiz - which player do you think won the NCAA basketball ratings war this weekend?

The final score - $870 million to 6 (million). That's not the point score, of course. It's what the NCAA Mens Championship was worth to network TV, vs the womens. (see link below). The women's game drew more viewers, but a few people are already snarking that's just because Caitlin Clark is better looking and more erudite than Zach Edey. And scores more too . . .

The womens final game on Sunday was better too, according to everyone who doesn't work for ESPN. This would be the same ESPN that just fired a half dozen commentators, because of a cash crunch. I hope the newly unemployed understand that this isn't personal - just business. It takes nearly a billion dollars just to broadcast men's basketball games.

US women's soccer has been complaining about this gender based pay disparity for years. At world cup and olympic appearances, USWNT players earn a pittance compared to the men. There's a bunch of embarrassed whistling and staring at the ceiling every time this comes up. And women's soccer has their own Caitlin Clark. Her name is Alex Morgan. Yes, she's still playing at age 34. And yes, she started in the SheBelieves cup final last night. And yes, the USNWT won the cup. For the fifth time.

Back to NCAA women's basketball. I totally get it that college sports is a business. And that athletic excellence, role models, or encouraging both young women AND men to play hard and clean isn't actually part of the equation. It's a business, and that's why the women are paid 99% less. The NCAA women got screwed because they were too dumb to hire a decent negotiatior for their TV deal. Not because their "product" is inferior. This is really true, if you stop and think about it. It's all about agents and lawyers, baby.

At this point I would like to yield the floor to the candidates for president in 2024. Can either of you turn this into an instant campaign issue? The $870 million payout disparity, that is. The US government does, after all, license the airwaves and broadcasters. Biden might weigh in first, a week or so after his staff briefs him. I can hardly wait. And although I'm not rooting for Trump, he's about to let a perfectly good crisis go to waste. Here's your angle, Donald: “When I'm elected president, I will close the Mexican border. Unless it's someone who's a women's basketball or soccer star. Them, I will let her in. And make sure they're not screwed by the network broadcasters.” Stop laughing - it could happen.

There's a silver lining here. NEXT year the women's NCAA basketball program will earn 10X what it did this season. That contract was already signed. But that will still only be 10% of what the men's program will rake in. No fooling . . . you can't possibly make up stuff this bizarre. Don't take this personally Caitlin Gilbert and Alex Morgan. It's not you . . . it's just business.

I'm just sayin' . . .

NCAA Women Beat Men in Finals’ Ratings for First Time—but Got 99% Less TV Money (msn.com)