How Much Money Does UConn Earn for Winning March Madness 2025?

Thanks to a “units” system that incentivizes achievement, the conferences with the most teams in the NCAA tournament can expect significant benefits as March Madness 2025 gets started.

The NCAA makes about $900 million annually from the sale of broadcast rights to Warner Bros. and CBS. It distributes a portion of its earnings to member conferences according to the men’s basketball tournament results of their teams. Each game a team plays, with the exception of the national final, earns “units,” which are used to calculate these payments.

Sportico estimates that each of the 132 units up for prizes in this tournament is valued almost $2 million. The money goes out to the individual universities by the conferences over a period of six years. An estimated $264 million is up for grabs, of which about $128 million is given away for the 64 units that will be accessible in March and the remaining $136 million is divided among the 68 tournament teams.

In order to increase the money they get, the conferences are encouraged to send as many of their teams as possible to the tournament. That money is a big part of the yearly revenue for smaller, less well-known conferences. A “Cinderella” club that makes it through multiple rounds can give their conference a much-needed financial boost.

Distribution of prizes by conference for 2025:

• Big 12: 8 teams, $16 million.
• SEC: 8 teams, $16 million.
• Big Ten: 6 teams, $12 million.
• Mountain West: 6 teams, $12 million.
• ACC: 5 teams, $10 million.
• Pac-12: 4 teams, $8 million.
• Big East: 3 teams, $6 million.
• American: 2 teams, $4 million.
• Atlantic 10: 2 teams, $4 million.
• WCC: 2 teams, $4 million.

For their participation in the competition, the remaining conferences will get a guaranteed $2 million. Since the mid-major conferences find it difficult to get berths in the tournament beyond their conference champions, the financial significance is higher for them. Competition has increased as a result of the Power 5 conferences’ growth, and some have proposed doing away with automatic qualifiers for smaller leagues.

Conference profits in the tournament are also impacted by conference reconfiguration. Even after moving to another league, Pac-12 will still accrue units for their previous conference, which will result in payouts for the next six years.

The pressure to advance increases for all teams, particularly those from lesser-known conferences trying to maximize their cash, as the conferences keep adding money with every victory.