NCAA's Title IX report shows stark gap in funding for women

The number of women competing at the highest level of college athletics continues to rise along with an increasing funding gap between men's and women's sports programs, according to an NCAA report examining the 50th anniversary of Title IX.

The report, released Thursday morning and entitled "The State of Women in College Sports," found 47.1% of participation opportunities were for women across Division I in 2020 compared with 26.4% in 1982.

Yet, amid that growth, men's programs received more than double that of women's programs in allocated resources in 2020 — and that gap was even more pronounced when looking at the home of the most profitable revenue-generating sports: the Football Bowl Subdivision, the top tier within Division I that features the Alabamas, Ohio States and Southern Californias of the sports world.

«It tells you schools are investing a huge amount of money in the moneymakers,» Amy Wilson. NCAA managing director for the office of inclusion and lead report author, told The Associated Press, referring to football as the primary revenue-generating sport, along with men's basketball.

«It speaks to the business side of what college sports has become.»

The gender gap in funding approached nearly 3-1 ratios when examining expenditures for recruiting as well as compensation for head coaches and assistant coaches. And that gap isn't new, even with increased expenditures for women across all three divisions.

The difference between median total expenses for men's and women's programs at FBS schools, in particular, has grown from $12.7 million in 2009 to $25.6 million in 2019.

Wilson said those discrepancies don't automatically amount to a violation of Title IX, which ensures equity between men and women in