South Carolina women’s basketball has been a beacon of light for the athletic program through its success. With numerous winning seasons, national championships and consistent talent spewing into the WNBA, the Gamecocks continue to raise the women's sports at the university.
However, despite being the most successful program the University of South Carolina has to offer, the women's basketball team doesn't earn nearly a fraction of the money that men's basketball and football does.
In the 2024–25 fiscal year, expenses put the program over budget by more than $6 million. The largest expenses include coach salaries, which are paid by both the university and third parties, according to the 2025 NCAA AUP Report.
South Carolina women's basketball head coach Dawn Staley signed a five-year, $25.25 million contract extension with the Gamecocks in January 2025, making her the highest-paid women's college basketball coach ever. In comparison, South Carolina football head coach Shane Beamer makes more than double Staley's annual salary at $8.15 million .
Both the University of Texas and LSU women's basketball departments, two Southeastern conference competitors, are also in a loss. In the 2024-25 fiscal year, LSU reported over an $8.5 million loss, and Texas reported a $7.5 million loss.
Despite the losses, South Carolina's expenses hit over $13 million. According to Jordan Kaye at The State newspaper, the only other SEC schools that spent more than $10 million on their women's basketball programs were LSU at $12.1 million and Texas at $10.9 million.
Outside the conference, UConn is one of the few women's programs that operates in a profit, at $8.5 million in the 2024-25 season.
Despite the women’s program’s success, including winning the 2024 NCAA national championship and advancing further than the men’s team, which lost in the first round, the men’s program still generated twice the ticket revenue, according to CT Insider.
Staley is in her 17th season with the Gamecocks and has accomplished things that other programs may never see. Since arriving in May 2008, she has won three national championships and nine SEC regular-season championships.
Viewership revenue
Taking a zoomed out look at South Carolina Athletics, football and men’s basketball are the departments that bring in the most revenue with their media rights and donations. Men’s basketball receives over double the contributions the women’s team does.
Under the new 2025-26 NCAA revenue-sharing model in direct result from the House v. NCAA settlement, women's basketball programs are estimated to receive approximately 8% of the total revenue-sharing pool, or about $1.6 million per average school. This is separate from NIL and is used to compete for talent, often favoring high-revenue sports such as football. Football could be expected to receive around 63.8%, or $13.1 million, and men’s basketball can expect to receive 20.9%, or $4.3 million.
Staley spoke on what she hopes will come from the House v. NCAA settlement in comparison to other high prioritized sports.
“When this lawsuit came out, it was football, men’s basketball and women’s basketball,” Staley said in an article from The State. “I just hope we don’t lose sight of those three sports that started the lawsuit. And I know when we decide which way that the money’s going to be divvied up, that every school that is receiving the revenue sharing portion will definitely take women’s basketball seriously.”
Since 2020, the South Carolina women's basketball program has reached the Final Four in six straight seasons, winning the NCAA Division I Championship twice in 2022 and 2024. With their acclaimed dominance, Staley and the Gamecocks have cemented themselves as the best athletic program at South Carolina.
Besides women's basketball, baseball was the last program to make a national championship in its respective sport. South Carolina football has never made the College Football Playoffs and has never won a SEC championship. For the men's basketball program, its last NCAA Tournament appearance was in 2024, where it was a first-round exit.
The women’s basketball team brings in so many fans and eyes through their victories. In 2024, the women's NCAA tournament, which included South Carolina's win against Iowa, had a higher viewership than the men's, averaging 18.7 million viewers, which was a first in NCAA Tournament history.
Under Staley, the Gamecocks hold the SEC record for 57 consecutive league regular-season victories and 16 consecutive winning seasons. The South Carolina men’s basketball program's longest consecutive winning season streak was from 1969-74, while football's was from 1928-34.
Staley's impact also broadens towards her fans' participation and attendance.
The women's program sold out all 13,046 2026 season tickets for this season. South Carolina has led the nation in average attendance for the last 10 seasons. Staley's track record of winning seasons and continued tournament appearances reflects the standard she has established for the program.
Staley’s high praise inside, outside of program
Through these accomplishments, Staley's value in all aspects of being a mentor and basketball coach goes far beyond her on-paper success.
She has made a lasting impact not just through wins, but through the relationships she’s built with players and peers. She continues to support her former players as they pursue careers beyond college and gain high respect from her opposing coaches.
Four-time WNBA MVP and former Gamecock forward A'ja Wilson spoke about the impact and continuous support that Staley has towards her pro-career.
“She has really molded me into the player that I am today. She spent countless hours just telling me what I need to do at the pro level," Wilson said in a Just Women's Sports article.
Staley's presence even expands to the South Carolina football team. Beamer has used her inspirational words to bring in recruits and exchange advice. Her phone call with former South Carolina defensive back Nick Emmanwori on draft night left a lasting impact to guide him on his efforts in the NFL.
During her several NCAA Tournament appearances, she has a history of spreading her knowledge and advice to the then-No.16 seeds. This past season, after defeating Southern University 103-34 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, Staley gave the Southern players samples of her perfume. Southern University senior guard D’Shantae Edwards spoke on how the gesture spoke more than just a gift.
“I think it shows how good of a person she is. It’s not just about basketball,” Edwards said in an Athletic article. “I feel like her coming and giving us words of encouragement meant a lot as a team, and honestly meant a lot to me as a person because it’s bigger than the game for her. It’s about growth as a player. It’s about growth as a person and you can see that when she was talking to us.”
When Staley spoke highly of former Virginia Tech women’s basketball coach Kenny Brooks, who is now the Kentucky women's basketball head coach, he was honored because of his respect for her.
“I wanted to stand up and applaud her because she is the face of women’s basketball right now,” Brooks said.
Staley evolving women’s basketball
During the 2024 offseason, Staley received a job interview with the New York Knicks for the then-vacant head coach position. There have only been two females who have had NBA head coaching interviews: Becky Hammond and Staley. If Staley were picked for the position, she would’ve been the first female full-time NBA head coach.
"You're going to be asked questions that you don't have to be asked if you hire a male coach," Staley said on Post Moves with Aliyah Boston and Candace Parker. There's going to be the media, there's going to be all this stuff that you are going to have to deal with that you didn't have to deal with, and you don't have to deal with when you hire a male."
Tennessee Tech women's basketball head coach Kim Rosamond spoke about Staley’s impact.
“There’s so many things I admire about her,” Rosamond said in an Athletic article. “But she is always advancing the game, protecting the game, respecting the game and she does so much for people that within the game that doesn’t always get seen or noticed.”
Through the WNBA player’s fight in pay, Staley has been there supporting them as a first-hand witness and for her past and present players.
Staley spent eight seasons from 1999 to 2006 playing in the WNBA, playing for the Charlotte Sting and Houston Comets. Staley has been included in the talk of what players will be briefed and said that the association should be on the right side of history to move women’s basketball forward.
Staley explained the potential of the deal for senior guard Raven Johnson and junior guard Tessa Johnson.
“When you enter into the league, you're going to make probably 100 times, 75 times, more than someone 30 years ago, 10 years ago, five years ago,” Staley said in a South Carolina Public Radio article. “You're going to make much more money than the No. 1 pick and we've had two of them.”
In all factors of women’s basketball, Staley has consistently shifted the South Carolina program. People looking into the program may continue to have concerns have regarding her high salary, or the continuous money loss, but can see the success and wins from the outside.