How the NCAA built up, then spent a $400 million March Madness safety net
By Adam Spencer
Published:
Back in 2004, the NCAA had a thought — what would happen if March Madness was canceled? In case of a disaster like that, the organization built up a $400 million safety net.
Considering this year’s NCAA Tournament was just canceled, it’s a good thing the NCAA has that safety net, right? Well, yeah … about that.
According to USA TODAY’s Steve Berkowitz, that money is gone. Per the report, half of the money was spent to help schools with increasing costs and the other half was used in a settlement:
By 2014, the association had accumulated a nearly $400 million cushion as a hedge against a massive loss of revenue from the tournament. However, at the direction of its governing board of college presidents, the NCAA distributed that money to schools to help them with increasing costs and spent it on their behalf in other ways, including a $208.7 million legal settlement.
That money would have been nice to have with this year’s cancellations, but it’s too late for that now, it seems.
The NCAA is still a billion-dollar industry, though. Yes, this year’s loss of tourney revenue will hurt, but it’s probably safe to say that there will still be money to be had moving forward.
Adam is a daily fantasy sports (DFS) and sports betting expert. A 2012 graduate of the University of Missouri, Adam now covers all 16 SEC football teams. He is the director of DFS, evergreen and newsletter content across all Saturday Football brands.
