The Iowa superstar — and the national Player of the Year — was a main topic of interest this season, but other superb players, along with great games and intriguing storylines, put the sport in a brighter spotlight. In part due to superstar athletes such as Clark and LSU’s Angel Reese, viewership for women’s college
basketball has risen dramatically in recent years. Iowa’s 94-87 victory over LSU in the Elite Eight on Monday night averaged 12.3 million viewers on
ESPN, according to Nielsen, making it one of the most-watched games in any sport other than NFL
Football over the past year. Ashleen Bracey, head coach of women’s basketball at the University of Illinois at
Chicago, said she watched the Iowa-LSU game on her couch with no one around so she could concentrate with no interruptions. The game was “everything that we anticipated,” she said, calling the ratings “amazing.” “It’s everything that I think we’ve all been working for,” she said. Iowa’s Caitlin Clark is introduced before the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament Final Four semifinal game against the UConn Huskies at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse on April 5, 2024, in Cleveland. (Gregory Shamus/Getty) She expects high viewership for the rest of the tournament, especially for the Clark and Paige Bueckers matchup Friday. “I don’t want to take away from
Women who have played in previous decades, because to me women’s basketball has always been very fundamental, very skilled, very much a team sport, but what I do think has really elevated as of late would be the generational talent and the improved skill and the ability to shoot (three-pointers),” she said. “We’re really growing in our product.” At UIC, attendance has increased about 200% in the past two years, Bracey said. With more media coverage and accessible games, Bracey said she anticipates new women’s basketball fans showing up to WNBA games and other college games. The WNBA has already seen an increase in ticket sales after Clark announced her plans to enter the draft. “Because it’s more available, because it’s more out there, it’s a great product,” she said. “People are seeing it, people are enjoying it.” Meredith, center, and Michaela take in a televised women’s NCAA Tournament Final Four game between South Carolina and North Carolina State at Whiskey Girl Tavern on North Clark Street in Chicago’s Edgewater neighborhood on April 5, 2024. (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune)