Things are heating up as both the men’s and women’s college basketball teams are competing in March Madness and approaching the Final Four. But that raises the question: are the women’s college basketball teams getting more attention than the men’s? The women’s teams that are currently in the finals as of April 1st are NC State, Iowa, UConn, and South Carolina. As for the men’s, the teams include Alabama, UConn, Purdue, and NC State. The women will compete on Friday with the men following their games on Saturday.
Regarding the women’s, words can’t go unsaid with the record-breaking NCAA Division 1 all-time leading scorer, Caitlin Clark. With her unparalleled scoring and sold out arenas, it is guaranteed that fans will watch Iowa’s game against UConn. Not to mention the Huskies guard, Paige Bueckers who averages 22.0 PPG and is one of the leading scorers on UConn’s team. Both of these talented athletes and their teams will draw a crowd at the upcoming game for the right for the NCAA Women’s championship seat.
So the answer to that question is yes. According to sportnaut.com, the college basketball TV ratings on Fox for the men’s is around 946,000 viewers while the women’s have a 34,000 lead with about 980,000 viewers. Fox experienced a 48 percent growth for the women’s basketball season. ESPN stated the rematch game on Monday between the Iowa Hawkeyes and LSU tigers averaged around 12.3 million tuned in, making it the most watched college basketball game in history on ESPN. To put that in perspective, the average views of the 2023 NBA finals averaged around 11.6 million viewers,
Not only did tv grow attention, but fans came out to Cleveland to see these nail biter games and cheer on their team, which was bound to bring up ticket prices. According to Time Magazine, the cheapest seat for the men’s Final Four in Phoenix sells for $360 (vivid seats) versus Clark’s cheapest ticket in the Final Four at Cleveland went for $526. Overall, the men’s and women’s audience grows the more that these inspiring players like Caitlin Clark and Paige Bueckers rise to fame. Stay tuned because its only going to get better from here.
