It is one of a number of proposals in a report compiled by law firm Kaplan Hecker & Fink LLP, with another key suggestion that financial incentives be offered to universities to improve their women's basketball programmes.

The report outlined four main inequalities between the two tournaments - men's basketball having more participation opportunities than women's, men being prioritised through the NCAA's revenue-distribution model, the governing body's culture and structure prioritising the men's competition, and the NCAA's media rights agreements causing inequity.

The firm was hired in March after the NCAA failed to provide similar support for men's and women's Division I Basketball Tournaments, leading to scathing criticism of the organisation.

NCAA President Mark Emmert was forced to apologise when a video comparing the threadbare women's weight room to the state-of-the-art men's equivalent went viral.

Other disparities between the two events included COVID-19 testing protocols, meals, signage and outdoor recreation, mainly caused by a lack of staffing for the women's tournament.

"With respect to women’s basketball, the NCAA has not lived up to its stated commitment to 'diversity, inclusion and gender equity among its student-athletes, coaches and administrators'," concluded the 113-page report.

NCAA revenues surpassed $1 billion (£718 million/€844 million) the year before the COVID-19 pandemic, with almost $900 million (£646 million/€760 million) of that coming from media rights deals with CBS and Turner for the men's basketball tournament - also known as March Madness.

The women's tournament is grouped together with more than 20 other NCAA Championships on ESPN at a cost of around $34 million (£24 million/€29 million), but according to the report, the women's basketball tournament alone is expected to be worth at least $81 million (£58 million/€68 million) annually at the beginning of 2025.

The report criticised the NCAA for failing to recognise or prepare for that growth in value and said revenue generated by the men's tournament's media deals led to it being prioritised "over everything else in ways that create, normalise and perpetuate gender inequities".

The review also called for annual assessments by the NCAA for the next five years to track gender equity.

A similar model for holding men's and women's finals in the same place has already been implemented by the NCAA for soccer this year.