PRESS BOX: VCU only cares about men’s basketball

Jenny Allen, Staff Writer

Despite the success surrounding the other VCU teams, fans and VCU Athletics continue to prioritize men’s basketball as the focal point of the department. 

The men’s basketball team has the stats to prove they’ve earned the attention. However, other teams across men’s and women’s sports deserve the opportunity to succeed regardless of their achieved fandom. 

Men’s basketball updates constantly fill students’ inboxes, while other sports receive little to no recognition. This bias has the potential to mentally affect other athletes on campus. 

Media and recruiting exposure is incredibly important in today’s sports world. Receiving less publicity despite success can leave players feeling overlooked. 

College newspapers, such as The CT, acknowledge the importance of neglected teams. CT reporters are often the only ones at less-advertised games for field hockey, volleyball, women’s basketball and other overlooked sports. VCU Athletics needs to support all of its programs, regardless of their popularity and success. 

All home games are free to students, however since men’s basketball has the highest attendance, their tickets must be claimed by students beforehand.

VCU is home to 17 varsity men’s and women’s teams that have won a collective four Atlantic 10 championships, 43 All-Conference accolades and crowned 13 Individual A-10 champions in the 2024-2025 season alone, according to VCU Athletics. 

The Rams as a whole have a history of success, with 59 A-10 championships since joining the conference in 2012.

Four track-and-field athletes were recognized on an all-state team in 2023, and men’s soccer secured the regular season championship title in 2023. The men’s tennis team has won eight straight conference tournaments in a row, and both the men’s and women’s tennis team won the A-10 conference tournament last season.

Despite all this, the success of men’s basketball is undeniable — the program has won the most A-10 championships among the university teams and had a total attendance of almost 112,000 in the 2024-2025 season.  

Men’s basketball has the three highest-grossing games in program history this year and a second consecutive year with season ticket renewal rates above 90%, according to VCU Athletics. 

Yes, university revenue typically sets the standards for team exposure, but VCU still has the ability to advertise other athletic games — and it works when they do.

The women’s basketball team won the A-10 tournament in 2021, but VCU only started marketing to a bigger audience with the SupportHER game in 2023. It brought a record-breaking 6,000 attendees to the Siegel Center, and the 2024 crowd was even bigger. 

With the recent allowance of NCAA universities to pay their student athletes based on name, image and likeness; revenue, competitions and advertisement are now more significant. 

VCU Athletic Director Ed McLaughlin estimated the school can afford to pay around $5 million per year to Ram athletes. The majority of that $5 million would be dedicated to men’s basketball programs. 

Many athletes on other teams play in near-empty courts or fields with little outside attention, despite displaying just as much passion and skill as the men’s basketball team. 

Some webpages for certain teams — like field hockey — don’t even have player positions or portraits. Others don’t have their rosters updated between seasons.

Men’s basketball has the skill and revenue to warrant the attention they get. But if every sport received the focus men’s basketball does, it’s very possible they could reach the same heights.