Men’s and women’s NCAA basketball referees were paid equally at this year’s March Madness tournaments. While this remains big milestone for the sport and pay equality, referees across NCAA sports are still not paid equally throughout the regular season.
The Associated Press released a study Friday regarding the NCAA referee pay gap. Fifteen of the largest college conferences paid their male referees on average 22% more than female referees in 2021–22, according to the study.
When looking at how much male referees earn as opposed to female referees per game, the difference is around a few hundred dollars. Over the course of a season, though, that difference can add up to thousands of dollars. Of course, that difference is not huge to large organizations like the NCAA, which spent an extra $100,000 to equally pay their referees this year for its basketball tournaments.
