- Four men’s teams and four women’s teams compete to become the 2024 March Madness national champions.
- The average salary is $4 million for Final Four men’s coaches and $2.15 million for women’s coaches.
- The wage gap is expected to narrow as women’s college basketball sees increased ratings and television ratings.
Eight coaches have taken teams to the Final Four in the 2024 men’s and women’s March Madness tournaments. there is a big gap between what they do, especially between the men’s and women’s teams.
Using data available from USA Today’s NCAA Finance database, we examined the 2023-24 salaries of the eight coaches who reached the semifinals.
On the men’s side, University of Connecticut head coach Dan Hurley leads the way with a $5 million salary. In the women’s tournament, South Carolina’s Dawn Staley and UConn’s Geno Auriemma each earn $3.1 million as the highest-paid coaches still competing for the championship.
The four head men’s basketball coaches have an average salary of $4 million. Women’s coaches earn an average of $2.1 million per year.
2024 Men’s Final Four Head Coach Salaries:
UConn – Dan Hurley, $5 million
Alabama – Nate Oats, $4.5 million
Purdue – Matt Painter, $3.7 million
North Carolina State – Kevin Keatts $2.9 million
2024 Women’s Final Four Head Coach Salaries:
South Carolina – Dawn Staley, $3.1 million
UConn – Geno Auriemma, $3.1 million
Iowa – Lisa Bluder, $1.4 million
North Carolina State – Wes Moore, $1 million
Geno Auriemma, UConn women’s basketball head coach. Michael Conroy/AP Images
The pay gap between head coaches in women’s college basketball and men’s basketball is even more pronounced when looking beyond Final Four teams.
The average salary for the 20 highest-paid men’s basketball coaches is $5 million, with Kansas’ Bill Self leading the way with $9.6 million in earnings.
The average salary for the top 20 women’s basketball coaches is $1.5 million per year. Thirty-one men’s coaches earn more than the highest-paid women’s coach, LSU’s Kim Mulkey, who makes $3.3 million.
Of course, despite a recent surge in popularity of women’s sports, the revenue generated by the top women’s college basketball teams is still less than a third of that of the top men’s teams.
However, as television ratings and attendance for women’s college basketball hit new highs this season, revenue from the sport will increase for schools, which should, in turn, lead to higher salaries for coaches of women’s teams.
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