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Pressure mounts on NCAA to pay women referees equally

Last year, the NCAA agreed to pay referees at its men鈥檚 and women鈥檚 basketball tournaments equally. Now regular season games are under scrutiny. Data obtained by the AP shows veteran referees were 22% more per game to ref men鈥檚 basketball games in 2021-22.

First Look

The NCAA earned praise last year when it agreed to pay referees at its men鈥檚 and women鈥檚 basketball tournaments equally. The gesture only cost about $100,000, a tiny fraction of the roughly $900 million networks pay annually to broadcast March Madness.

Now, as the NCAA examines various disparities across men鈥檚 and women鈥檚 sports, pressure is rising to also pay referees equally during the regular season. Two Division 1 conferences told The Associated Press they plan to equalize pay, and another is considering it. Others are resisting change, even though the impact on their budgets would be negligible.

鈥淭he ones that are [equalizing pay] are reading the writing on the wall,鈥� said Michael Lewis, a marketing professor at Emory University鈥檚 Goizueta Business School.

The details of NCAA referee pay are closely guarded, but The Associated Press obtained data for the 2021-22 season that show 15 of the NCAA鈥檚 largest 鈥� and most profitable 鈥� conferences paid veteran referees for men鈥檚 basketball an average of 22% more per game.

That level of disparity is wider than the gender pay gap across the U.S. economy, where women earn 82 cents for every dollar a man earns, according to the 2020 census. And it is an overwhelming disadvantage for women, who make up less than 1% of the referees officiating men鈥檚 games.

Dawn Staley, the head coach for the University of South Carolina Gamecocks 鈥� the women鈥檚 national champions 鈥� said referees on the men鈥檚 side should be 鈥渟tepping up鈥� and advocating for equal pay for women鈥檚 referees. 鈥淭hey don鈥檛 do anything different,鈥� she said. 鈥淲hy should our officials get paid less for taking the [expletive] we give them?鈥�

The people who provided AP with data for nearly half of the NCAA鈥檚 32 Division I conferences have direct knowledge of pay scales, and they did so on condition of anonymity because the information is considered private.

The Northeast Conference had the widest per-game pay disparity among the NCAA leagues AP analyzed, with the most experienced referees for men鈥檚 games earning 48% more. The Atlantic-10 paid veteran men鈥檚 refs 44% more, while the Colonial Athletic Association paid them 38% more. (Only the Ivy League paid veteran officials equally in the data AP reviewed.)

Of the conferences with unequal pay contacted by AP, two 鈥� the Pac-12 and the Northeast Conference 鈥� said they plan to level the playing field starting next season. A third, the Patriot League, which had a 33% pay gap last year, said it is reviewing equity for officials in all sports. 鈥淧ay is part of that,鈥� commissioner Jennifer Heppel said.

The Pac-12 paid referees equally a decade ago, but allowed a disparity to build over time, according to associate commissioner Teresa Gould. She said returning to equal pay is 鈥渢he right thing to do.鈥�

NEC commissioner Noreen Morris said the decision to equalize pay was an easy one to make once it realized that basketball was the only sport where it was not compensating referees equally.

Relative to the amounts of money these leagues generate, the cost of bridging the pay gap can seem small.

For example, the SEC paid referees for men鈥檚 games 10%, or $350, more than those officiating women鈥檚 games. Over the course of a season, it would cost the SEC a couple hundred thousand dollars to pay them equally 鈥� a sliver of the $3 billion deal it signed with ESPN to broadcast all of its sports starting in 2024.

The most experienced Division 1 referees 鈥� for men鈥檚 or women鈥檚 games 鈥� are well paid. Some earn more than $150,000 in a season, officiating dozens of games across multiple conferences. Newer referees earn far less, supplementing income from another job.

All NCAA referees are independent contractors, with no union representing their interests, and all have to cover their own travel expenses.

The busiest referees can work five or six games a week in different cities, running up and down the court for 40 minutes one night, getting a few hours of sleep, and then waking up at 4 a.m. to catch a flight to their next destination.

Dee Kantner, a veteran referee of women鈥檚 games who works for multiple conferences, finds it frustrating to have to justify equal pay.

鈥淚f I buy an airline ticket and tell them I鈥檓 doing a women鈥檚 basketball game they aren鈥檛 going to charge me less,鈥� she said.

鈥淒o you value women鈥檚 basketball that much less?鈥� Ms. Kantner said. 鈥淗ow are we rationalizing this still?鈥�

Several conference commissioners said the men鈥檚 and women鈥檚 games do not generate equal amounts of revenue, and that the level of play is not equal, and so referee salaries are set accordingly.

鈥淗istorically we have treated each referee pool as a separate market,鈥� said Big East Commissioner Val Ackerman. 鈥淲e paid rates that allow us to be competitive for services at our level. I think the leagues are entitled to look at different factors here. I don鈥檛 see it as an equity issue 鈥� I see it as a market issue.鈥�

The Big East pays referees working its men鈥檚 games 22% more, and Ms. Ackerman said there is no imminent plan to make a change.

Atlantic-10 Commissioner Bernadette McGlade said the market-based approach is what enables her to offer some of the highest per-game rates across the NCAA. 鈥淲e get the most experienced, most qualified officials in the country,鈥� she said.

Veteran referees officiating in the Atlantic-10 are paid $3,300 for men鈥檚 games, compared with $2,300 for women鈥檚 games, according to data reviewed by AP. Seven other conferences had higher per-game rates 鈥� and narrower gender gaps 鈥� last year, the data show.

Of the roughly 800 referees officiating women鈥檚 basketball this past season, 43% were female, a proportion that鈥檚 been relatively consistent over the past decade. But just six women officiated men鈥檚 games last year 鈥� a number that has slowly grown over the last few years.

Penny Davis, the NCAA鈥檚 supervisor of officials, said conferences are trying to recruit more women to officiate men鈥檚 games, which is another way to help bridge the gender pay gap.

But Ms. Davis says she would hate to see even fewer women refereeing women鈥檚 basketball. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 want to lose our best and brightest,鈥� she said.

A decade ago, referees working the men鈥檚 and women鈥檚 NCAA Tournament were paid equally. But as the profitability of the men鈥檚 tournament skyrocketed, its budget grew too 鈥� and so did pay for referees.

Both Ms. McGlade and Ms. Ackerman praised the NCAA for restoring equal pay at the March tournaments. 鈥淲e鈥檙e mindful of what the NCAA did for the tournament,鈥� Ms. Ackerman said. 鈥淣CAA Tournament games are closer but not entirely a common officiating experience.鈥�

Ivy League executive director Robin Harris disagrees. 鈥淲e decided a while ago that it was the right thing to do to pay them the same amount. They are doing the same job.鈥�

This story was reported by The Associated Press. AP College Football Writer Ralph D. Russo contributed to this story.