WASHINGTON — The NCAA Board of Governors voted Tuesday to give President Mark Emmert a two-year contract extension through 2025.
Emmert’s contract was set to expire in 2023, but the board voted unanimously to extend his deal, the NCAA said in a statement.
The announcement comes less than a month after the NCAA and Emmert drew sharp criticism for inequities between the women’s and men’s Division I basketball tournaments.
Exactly one month ago, Board of Governors chairman Jack DeGioia told AP the board was satisfied with Emmert’s handling of the basketball tournament issues and his overall performance.
Emmert has also been facing scrutiny and political pressure for the NCAA's inability to move forward with proposed reforms to its rules prohibiting athletes from earning money off their names, images and likenesses.
"We have confidence in Mark’s continuing leadership of the NCAA,” DeGioia, who is president of Georgetown University, told AP.
DeGioia's comments came one day after Emmert told AP: “We’ve had a bunch of challenges to say the least, but there’s no doubt in my mind the NCAA is moving in a good direction despite all of this and as long as my board is supportive I want to keep doing this job."
Dozens of states have bills in the pipeline that will prohibit the NCAA from stopping college athletes from being compensated for endorsement and sponsorship deals. Florida and Mississippi are among the states with laws scheduled to go into effect July 1.
Emmert and the NCAA have turned to federal lawmakers for help with NIL.
The NCAA is also awaiting a ruling from the Supreme Court in an antitrust case the association has been fighting for several years.
Emmert has been NCAA president since November 2010, when he succeeded the late Myles Brand. Only Walter Byers (1951-1988) has headed the NCAA longer than Emmert.
According to the NCAA’s federal tax returns, Emmert made $2.7 million during 2018, USA Today reported last year.