In 2024, when people talked about the women’s March Madness tournament, the first thing that popped into many minds was a specific player and a team. The University of Iowa’s Caitlin Clark changed the game for all future women athletes and left a memorable effect on viewers. She broke records such as the record for all-time leading scorer for both men’s and women’s Division I basketball. When the Hawkeyes played for the second time in the championship game against South Carolina, they averaged a record of 18.9 million viewers. However, now that Clark has graduated and many star players throughout the league have moved onto the WNBA, the views have decreased and left those still playing feeling less supported.
While the women have still been garnering attention and they haven’t gone completely backwards to the former way, it’s still not the same as it was. “ When people see new talent like we’ve been seeing in women’s college basketball for the past few years, games sell out and bring more attention”, says Senior Sydney Smith . As the league continues to get better and better athletes, the progress they have made in order to ensure these athletes get the attention they deserve will continue to be a battle.
Historically, the men’s tournament always generated a larger crowd and bigger support from fans. Venues never had to worry about securing enough space for fans at women’s games, and many times games would never be sold out. However as the stereotype begins to change, the women’s league still continues to be recognized just as much. One example of this being the brackets that fans across the country make. For the women’s tournament, the NCAA accounted for “5 million” brackets that were made this year for the women’s tournament. And while this number seems large, in comparison to the 24.4 million brackets that were made for the men’s tournament, the women’s number seems a lot smaller. “I normally only make a bracket for the men’s tournament. I’ll watch the women’s tournament but I won’t make a bracket for it”, Senior Sydney Smith admits.
Women’s sports have been on the rise in recent years due to the emergence of athletes likeCaitlin Clark who show that women can play just as well as men. Yet even while progress is being made, there was a significant drop in March Madness viewership this year. It went from a record breaking 18.9 million viewers to 8.6 million viewers on average. In the years previous to Clarks rise, the women’s national championship game averaged fewer than 3 million viewers. So while the number of viewers has increased, in comparison to when Clark was playing, the average amount of viewers has significantly lowered.
Viewers on a game aren’t the only thing that defines something as successful or worthy of attention, and though the women’s league still continues to fight to be equal to the men, the progress they have made won’t go unnoticed even when there are setbacks. “I think that promoting the next generation of players along with continuing to honor the legacy of players that paved the way. It’s important for the players themselves to be advocating for their sport”, said Junior Jayla Bischoff.
