Portland State University in Oregon allocated $1,519,158 for its women’s basketball teams during 2024, according to the U.S. Department of Education. This figure is $802,268 above the state average of $716,890.
That expenditure represented 8.7% of all sports team spending at the university in 2024.
Total sports-related expenses at Portland State University have grown by 66.3% since 2010.
Basketball remains a leading college sport in the United States alongside football, with major NCAA programs filling arenas and drawing TV viewership numbers approaching those seen for NBA games. Major tournaments such as March Madness attract millions nationally.
Changes in college athletics allow schools to directly share revenue with athletes after a federal settlement. The agreement also obligates the NCAA to pay $2.8 billion in back damages over a decade to athletes who competed from 2016 onward.
By 2022, after a period of legal and legislative changes, athletes won the ability to receive payment from use of their names, images and likenesses, a change brought by new state laws and updated NCAA policies.
The NCAA reported roughly $900 million in revenue stemming from March Madness and related Division I men’s basketball tournament media rights for the 2024 fiscal year, making basketball its main source of income.
| Year | Basketball team’s expenditures | % from grand total sport team expenditures |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $1,091,795 | 8.3% |
| 2021 | $1,090,281 | 8.3% |
| 2022 | $1,445,257 | 8.9% |
| 2023 | $1,469,920 | 7.9% |
| 2024 | $1,519,158 | 8.7% |
Information for this article comes from the U.S. Department of Education. Source data is available here.
