College sports advocates press philanthropy to buffer NIL's commercial pressure on women's sports

NEW YORK — 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.”

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Staff writer Glenn Gamboa contributed reporting from Cleveland.

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