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By Alli Geiger
Twenty-first century women have a long line of history behind them of women who helped pave the way towards equality. A particular triumph in female equality lies in one of the most peculiar of places: a sport. The history of basketball, particularly women’s basketball, has shown how much change women have gone through to try and reach “equality.” One of these little triumphs happens all because of a viral video on TikTok. The post went on social media, and therefore, the world. Sedona Prince permanently changed women’s basketball by shining a light on the differences between being on the men’s team and the women’s team. This few second long clip created a snowball effect that led to a 118-page report and greater change.
A man named James Naismith created the basketball in 1891 as an outlet for students during the winter when students could not play outside. Just one year later, a woman read about what Naismith had done and wanted to try it with women. This was Senda Berenson. She made a number of changes from the original game to make it more suitable for women in the time period. For instance, women were expected to stay in their specific section they were assigned on the court and not cross over to other areas (Jenkins). The number of players on the court at a time was also different. For men, there were only five, but when the women played basketball, there were six players on the court (Cahn 84). There were also comradery rules added to make sure the game was still “ladylike.” Players could not steal the ball or have it in their possession for too long. Shortly after Berenson introduced the female version of basketball, multiple schools were playing, and committees were being formed (Jenkins).
Women’s basketball has always received backlash regarding gender and what it means to be a woman in sports. For example, an educator named Agnes Wayman had a problem with the lack of “femininity” in the game. She requested additional rules to the already modifies version of the game. Some of these rules included “neatly combed hair, no gum chewing or slang, never calling each other by last names and never lying or sitting down on the floor.” Women in certain leagues were also required to wear makeup, wigs, or costumes while they were playing (Cahn 84).
Part of this was because women were not in charge of their own basketball competitions. They did not get that ability until 1924 (Jenkins). While women were able to oversee some competitions, there were still many things outside of their reach. Media focused more on the looks of the players rather than their abilities on the court. Life spread a photo of an only partially clothed player in a “health” competition. The magazine also commented on the dating life or date-ability of the players (Cahn 84).
It was not until 1971 that women could play a full-court game like the men did (Jenkins). Wanting to play with the men’s rules was something wanted by many female basketball players for a long time. Even the national chairman of the Women’s Basketball Committee said “Between you and me and the gatepost, I believe that nothing will satisfy the teams which are now playing under boys’ rules except boys’ rules” all the way back in 1934 (Cahn 88). It took 37 years between that statement and when women were able to play a closer version to the men’s basketball game.
Women’s basketball has come a long way since 1892. Something that has helped equalize women’s basketball particularly withing schools is Title IX. Title IX is a section of the Education Amendments that was created in 1972. This section says that “No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance” (Title IX and Sex Discrimination). This meant that a school receiving Federal money could not discriminate between the female or male basketball teams since they are an activity within the school boundaries.
In 2021, a female basketball player called out the NCAA for not being up to standard in their equality between the men’s and women’s basketball. Sedona Prince, a player from the University of Oregon, made a comment about these amenities in a TikTok video when she was there participating (ESPN). The video begins showing her as she talks about the March Madness tournament and sets the scene for how large and important the event is for women’s basketball. She shows the difference between the men’s workout room and the women’s and ends the video talking about how this difference between the men’s and women’s equipment is a huge problem, and that if people do not see a problem, then they are a part of the problem (ESPN).
This video went viral and has over 5.3 million views. It pointed out many of the discrepancies between men’s and women’s basketball, and people were outraged. Because of this video, the NCAA commissioned a 118-page report that went over all the problems with their gender equity (Murphy). In a short term response, NCAA provided initial changes to their program including “increasing the number of teams in the tournament from 64 to 68, using the March Madness brand and logo for the women’s tournament as well as the men’s, creating gift packages and on-site lounge areas that are identical for male and female players, adding more signage and other promotional items to create a better atmosphere at game sites, and increasing cross-promotion between the men’s and women’s tournaments” (Murphy). It called out the NCAA who “did not sponsor a championship for women’s basketball, or any other women’s sport until 1982-more than 75 years after the association was founded” which is also years after Title IX was introduced (Kaplan I 2).
The report concluded that they believe the reason for the discrepancies between the two genders is because of the physical systems of the NCAA, and that they do not have a system in place to combat these inequities. It says, “The results have been cumulative, not only fostering skepticism and distrust about the sincerity of the NCAA’s commitment to gender equity, but also limiting the growth of women’s basketball and perpetuating a mistaken narrative that women’s basketball is destined to be a ‘money loser’ year after year” (Kaplan I 2). This shows how the system is helping to perpetuate the ideas that keep women’s basketball from being equal to men’s basketball.
The report disproved a common understanding throughout the world of sports: women’s basketball loses money. A large money-maker for the NCAA is selling the broadcasting for the games and tournaments. Kaplan found a large discrepancy in the way NCAA splits up the broadcast sales. In total, the NCAA orchestrates around ninety championships each year. This number combines multiple sports all needed to be promoted. The rights of the men’s basketball tournament were sold to CBS Turner for around $1 billion a year. All twenty-nine other championships are grouped together in one sale to ESPN for $34 million. The gap between the two prices is huge, especially with the fact that it is one sport verses twenty-nine. This statistic shows how NCAA has favored men’s basketball over everything else they produce (“The TikTok that Changed College Hoops.”).
Kaplan pointed out that if women’s basketball is losing money, it would be because of the way the NCAA handles the group. The report said that if the women’s tournament was sold the way the men’s basketball tournament was, then the tournament could generate between $81 million to $112 million each year. This is three times the amount of money the tournament is sold for while combined with twenty-eight other tournaments. Fortunately for women’s basketball, the report’s findings urged the NCAA to change how they operate broadcasts. NCAA has said that after the 2024 tournament, they “will consider selling them on the open market or offering them up for sale as a separate broadcast” (“The TikTok that Changed College Hoops.”). This consideration might make the women’s tournament more like them men’s tournament, and in turn, make it more successful than it was and was perceived to be.
In 2023, the women’s March Madness championship game had 9.9 million viewers. This viewership is a 104% increase from the year before. Not only did the championship game viewership increase, but each of the six rounds had an increased viewership of 25% or more. Women’s basketball continued to rise and thrive (Johnson). And in 2024, the women’s March Madness Championship game made history. The event had a record-breaking number of views at 18.9 million. This is almost twice the amount of the year before as each year continues to double. Not only was the number of views for the women an incredible feat in and of itself, but the women’s championship game also had more viewers than the men’s championship game. The men’s game came out to around 14.8 million views which is four million less than the women’s (Miranda). This accomplishment is paired with the news that ESPN has “an eight-year, $920 million deal with the NCAA for the rights to women’s March Madness” (Johnson). Other large companies are also seeing the opportunities women’s basketball are bringing such as Disney who plans to highlight women’s basketball more equally (Johnson).
Overall, there has been a tremendous impact on not only women’s basketball but also women’s sports. The video created a chain reaction that pushed for change. Through this newfound passion for women’s basketball and equality in basketball, NCAA women’s basketball viewership has continued to increase exponentially. For the first time, the women’s championship had more viewers than the men’s championship. Even though many of these changes revolve around women’s basketball, other female sports are also impacted. Because there is still so much to be done for equality, the accomplishments achieved through Sedona Prince stand out in a big way. Just one TikTok pushed the sports world to positive change for women who had been participating in the sport 132 out of the 133 years it has been invented.
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Alli Geiger is a McConnell Scholar in the class of 2026. She is studying English on a professional and public writing track and minoring in Arabic and political science.