For women’s college basketball, this year has been the best of times, and the worst of times. But mainly the best of times. That was illustrated Monday night when Iowa defeated LSU in an Elite Eight game of the Women’s NCAA Tournament, a rematch of last year’s title game that was watched by 12.3 million viewers. That is officially the most watched women’s basketball game in history, narrowly eclipsing the 11.8 million that watched the 1983 championship game that featured USC’s Cheryl Miller. This year’s record also surpassed every game so far in the Men’s NCAA Tournament other than Sunday’s NC State/Duke Elite Eight game watched by over 15 million. Broadly speaking, there are still more people watching men’s tournament games than women’s – men’s games are averaging 3.7 million viewers, while women’s garner about 1.5. And both tournaments are up from last year – the men up 8%, and the women’s up a staggering 127%.
To be clear, Iowa star Caitlin Clark is a big part of this explosion. Iowa’s last five games have all had over 3 million viewers. She is the most visible figure in women’s college basketball history, and is likely the most talked about current player in the college game – men’s or women’s. Some of that has to do with the evolution of men’s basketball, where anyone with star power leaves for the NBA after one year, assuming they go to college at all. The women’s game has far fewer incentives to go pro early, especially in the current era of NIL money, where a star like Caitlin Clark can pull in millions in endorsement revenue. Which means that a senior star like Caitlin Clark, who can shoot from pretty much anywhere on the floor, can become a much bigger star now than Kentucky’s Reed Shepard, a freshman who is pegged to go third in this year’s NBA draft and won’t be a household name until he joins the pros. And I only picked him because the rest of the top five picks never even played in college.
But for all that’s trending up for women’s basketball, it hasn’t come without hiccups. For example, five women’s tournament games this year were played on a court with one of the three-point lines in the wrong place. And the sport is dancing around a controversial portrayal of LSU coach Kim Mulkey, who increasingly appears to be the female Bobby Knight. And despite the NCAA signing a new, eight-year broadcast contract with ESPN for over 900 million, a valuation experts believe is over 50% for women’s basketball, currently the NCAA does not distribute any performance based revenues to schools for win’s in the NCAA Tournament. In contrast, the NCAA’s eight-year, $8 billion mega deal with CBS and Turner for the men’s tournament pays schools and conferences on how long they play in March. Of course, a billion dollars a year is a lot different than around 60 million, the approximate annual value ESPN’s deal for women’s hoops. So scale matters. But it’s obvious that while the women’s game is having a moment, there’s a lot of hurdles to climb to reach anything resembling gender parity.
I won’t spend time arguing what the NCAA and college officials should or shouldn’t do for women’s basketball. There has been considerable progress made in creating an equitable playing experience, especially in light of some glaring inequities. And as for the massive disparity in TV contracts, this will all work itself out one way or another. In the world of sports television, undervalued properties don’t stay undervalued for long.
And that’s really the question. It’s clear more people now watch women’s sports, including team sports critics assumed would never break through. The question isn’t whether they’re more popular than men or than before, but rather, is this a moment, or a new reality. There’s a lot of reasons to assume this is far more long-term trend than flash in the pan, including a new demographic of sports fans that have grown up with girl’s and women’s sports. But, as the NBA learned in the wake of Michael Jordan, Caitlin Clark is about to graduate. Which means that getting 12 million viewers next year could be a lot harder. Which also means that next year’s ratings may be even more important that this year’s – especially when it comes to earning big TV money. And also why you’ll see a lot of executives buying time before signing the next big deal.
That said, for women’s sports, time is on their side. And why I imagine the best of times are yet to come.
Keith Strudler is the director of the School of Communication and Media at Montclair State University. You can follow him at @KeithStrudler
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