Competitive balance in NCAA “Power Conferences:” The case of men’s and women’s basketball

Abstract

The uncertainty of outcome hypothesis as well as past research has suggested that unless there is competitive balance among teams fans lose interest and revenue declines. It follows that the greater the sources of revenue the more likely one would find competitive balance. Using the standard deviation, as well as the range of winning percentages, the authors of this study compared over a seven year period the competitive balance of the NCAA “Power 5” conferences’ men’s basketball teams, a high revenue sport, to the competitive balance of the NCAA “Power 5” conferences’ women’s basketball teams, a lower revenue sport. The results of this study indicated considerably more competitive balance among the men’s teams than among the women’s teams, thus supporting the uncertainty of outcome hypothesis, as well as past research on the topic. The fact that women’s basketball is a lower source of athletic revenue when compared to men’s basketball suggests competitive balance in that sport has historically been a lower priority than in the highest level sports. This becomes an important issue as efforts are continually being made to enhance intercollegiate women’s sports.