Tickets to the NCAA women’s Final Four — that begins Friday night with South Carolina playing North Carolina State and Iowa playing UConn — were selling for about twice as much as tickets to the men’s tournament this week. Monday night’s Elite Eight matchup that Iowa won over LSU attracted more TV viewers than any game in the men’s tournament has this year. Also, more people watched UConn’s women’s team beat the University of Southern California on Monday than watched UConn’s men’s team defeat Illinois in their Elite Eight matchup. This weekend, Iowa’s Caitlin Clark, the greatest Division I scorer ever, is on a quest to win a national championship before she turns pro.
Why is there so much more interest in the women’s tournament this year?
Why is there so much more interest in the women’s tournament this year? The women’s game has more compelling star players and coaches and more compelling storylines. Ticket prices and television ratings reflect that.
In a column I wrote six years ago, I bemoaned the fact that so few people who filled out a men’s tournament bracket filled out one for the women’s tournament. Either they didn’t care to, or they didn’t know how to. As for the not knowing how part: When I wrote that column, there were fewer resources to help casual fans fill out a women’s bracket. If you weren’t a women’s basketball junkie, then there wasn’t much out there that could help you become a quick study and take part in the fun. Her Hoop Stats, a leader in tracking many different types of women’s basketball data, had only been around a year.
There were still more men’s brackets filled out this year, and when it comes to the price of tickets, it’s worth noting that the women’s Final Four is being played in an arena that holds 19,432 and the men’s Final Four is being played in a stadium that holds 63,400. Still, ESPN collected 3.25 million women’s bracket entries which is a 56% increase from last year….
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