What Caitlin Clark and Iowa's win over LSU and Angel Reese means for the growth Olympic women's basketball
If you watched Angel Reese and LSU battle Caitlin Clark and Iowa, or Paige Bueckers and UConn take on USC and Juju Watkins on Monday (1 April), you were far from alone. Whether you were able to make it to see any March Madness games in person or watched on television and followed on social media, women’s March Madness numbers have shown that interest in women’s basketball is on the rise.
Iowa won 94-87 over LSU and earned a berth in the NCAA Final Four, finding a measure of revenge as the Tigers beat the Hawkeyes in the 2023 NCAA national championship. For that game, 13,888 fans crowded into the sold-out MVP Arena in Albany, N.Y.
On the other side of the U.S., UConn knocked out USC with a score of 80-73, led by the freshman star Watkins, meaning the Huskies will now play in the Final Four for a record 23rd time. That game had 10,869 fans in the Moda Center in Portland, Ore.
The day before, South Carolina, with freshman star Milaysia Fulwiley, beat Oregon State 70-58 to earn their spot in the Final Four, while North Carolina State upset top-seeded Texas 76-66 to earn a trip to Cleveland.
Everyone is watching women’s basketball
These packed stadiums followed the trend of the tournament. The first and second rounds of women’s March Madness, held in the home arenas of the top 16 teams of the tournament, shattered attendance records. In total, 292,456 fans were in the crowds. The previous record was 231,677, which was set in 2023.
Not only did more people go to women’s March Madness games, but they were also willing to pay more money for their tickets. Forbes found that secondary market prices for tickets are up 190 per cent for the Final Four games in Cleveland on Friday (5 April).
People are tuning into women’s college basketball at record numbers, as well. Ratings for the first and second rounds were up 109 per cent from last season. Monday’s LSU-Iowa game had 12.3 million viewers, making it the most-watched women's college basketball game on record. The UConn-USC game had 6.7 million viewers, which would have broken the record if the LSU-Iowa game hadn't blown up the record a few hours before.
Worldwide interest in women’s basketball
This incredible growth isn’t happening in a vacuum. The numbers show interest in women’s basketball has been on the rise. For years, WNBA ratings and attendance have been on an upward trajectory. At the FIBA Women’s Basketball Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Antwerp in February, Belgium broke a women’s sports attendance record. The women’s EuroLeague has a record number of social media engagements from around the world.
Riding this tide of popularity, the Olympic women’s basketball tournament starts on 28 July in Lille, France. Some of the best players representing their countries at the Olympic Games Paris 2024 have played in the women’s March Madness.
In fact, tuning into the Final Four this Friday night means you’ll be watching Olympic basketball connections from the past, and possibly the future. Dawn Staley, South Carolina’s coach, is a three-time Olympic gold medalist, and coached the U.S. to a gold medal at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020.
UConn’s Aaliyah Edwards played for Canada at the Games in Japan and her coach, Geno Auriemma, led the Rio 2016 gold-medal winning women’s U.S. team. Iowa’s Caitlin Clark was invited to be a part of the U.S. women’s training camp, which makes her eligible to be named to the U.S. team headed to the Olympic Games Paris 2024.
If you’re counting down the days for some Olympic basketball, don’t worry. In becoming a huge fan of the sport, the numbers show you are not alone.