College sports advocates press philanthropy to buffer NIL’s commercial pressure on women’s sports
UCLA forward Angela Dugalic, right, shoots over South Carolina guard Ta’Niya Latson, center, and South Carolina forward Joyce Edwards during the first half of the women’s National Championship Final Four NCAA college basketball tournament game, April 5, 2026, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, File)
NEW YORK (AP) — While interest in women’s sports is booming and Olympic sports organizers lock in preparations for the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles, advocates worry that the college athletic programs that feed both those systems may be strained further by increased demands from bigger sports.
Olympic sports haven’t had the opportunity to thrive on their own, according to Women’s Sports Foundation CEO Danette Leighton, because the business has centered one product: college football.
Leighton is calling on donors to set the agenda. Philanthropy can protect those teams, she said, by endowing scholarships for women’s gymnastics or men’s tennis.
“There are a lot of philanthropists that are really passionate about women’s sports or men’s Olympic sports,” she said. “They should make sure that that’s where their funding is going directly.”
College sports programs produce around three-quarters of the U.S. Olympians at a typical Summer Games, but some are on uncertain footing in the wake of the $2.8 billion House settlement that allows schools to share more than $20 million in revenue directly with their athletes every year. Most of that money goes to football and basketball. A bill before the Senate would require protections — and funding — for Olympic and women’s sports.
Some worry that efforts to commercialize the most lucrative sports are creating a bit of a Catch-22. Schools risk losing the whole athletic department if they fail to keep up with name, image and likeness opportunities, according to Celene Funke.
“You lose donors, you lose ticket sales, you lose all those things. Unfortunately, yes, that does have to come first,” said Funke, a former Louisville softball player who helps athletes navigate this new world as a financial adviser. “The problem is there’s not enough guardrails to ensure the back end looks all right as well.”
Tennessee Education Lottery CEO Rebecca Paul established a $12 million estate gift last year for Butler University to create an endowed fund for women’s athletics.
Paul, who graduated from Butler with a bachelor’s degree in 1970 and later earned her masters, competed as a gymnast before Title IX protections. That was back when she said “girls weren’t supposed to sweat.” She recalled that the women’s gym was “far inferior” to the men’s gym. Very few women her age had the opportunity to participate in organized sports — and develop the leadership skills she believes they provide.
She and her late husband decided on the gift long before name, image and likeness rights were established, according to Paul. As a Butler trustee, though, she said she hears concern from her peers at other schools about what might be lost as universities shift resources.
“I’ve always felt that it was fair that if you could be paid to work in a lab as a student, you should be able to earn money on the basketball court,” she said. “I think maybe how it’s done needs to be reassessed.”
About our special report on college sports’ quest for cash
The dawn of the name, image, likeness era in college sports has brought an intensified pursuit of revenue from athletic departments looking to recruit and retain the best and brightest.
In this special report, you will find:
— SCRAMBLE FOR CASH: Finding fresh revenue streams has athletic departments becoming more creative by the day -- not just slapping corporate logos on uniforms and facilities, but building entertainment districts that can be lucrative far beyond game days.
— TAXPAYER SUPPORT: States pour tax dollars into college sports as athlete pay and soaring costs squeeze budgets.
— MILLION-DOLLAR COLLEGE DEALS: How can a college lineman make more than an NFL player?
— DO NONPROFITS = COMPETITIVE EDGE?: There’s “feverish” interest from higher education in these new offshoots, which offer new revenue and, maybe more importantly, more flexibility.
— HISTORY OF NIL: A quick primer on athlete compensation.
— INSIDE ‘CARWASH’ DAY: A behind-the-scenes look at a NIL media “carwash” day at the University of Tennessee designed to make producing commercials and ads easier for both companies and athletes.
— WHAT ABOUT WOMEN?: Advocates worry that funding for the women’s college programs and Olympic sports may be strained further by increased demands from bigger sports.
— REMEMBERING CHARITIES: There was initially hope that NIL payments would also benefit charities, but some wonder if those days are already over.
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Staff writer Glenn Gamboa contributed reporting from Cleveland.
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Associated Press coverage of philanthropy and nonprofits receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. For all of AP’s philanthropy coverage, visit https://apnewstodays.pages.dev/hub/philanthropy.
