There was concern that attendance and general interest in female university basketball would fall this year with the departure of Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese and other stars for the WNBA.
Both took a dip, but only a dip.
With Juju Watkins and Paige Bueckers and a large number of other outstanding players who lead the way, assistance throughout the country was just below the record numbers last season in female aros and even the second highest.
More networks showed more television games this season and the grades were strong towards Mature of March That begins this week. ESPN will have most of the León Tournament again, but Fox increased his footprint in sport with five stellar games on Saturday nights and 18 in total in the network.
“There are great stars, big brands, we have done more than we have done before and we are not alone in doing so,” said Fox Sports President of Insights and Analytics, Mike Mulvihill. “The 3-5-10 years trend is clearly an upward trend.”
While the general grades of the network are low of the record brand last season that was largely due to Clark in Fox Much, Mulvihill is happy with where they are.
“Going from zero exhibitions a few years ago to 18 on our biggest platform talks about growth and interest in sport,” he said. “There is growing confidence in this building that we can put it into transmission and justify it. I love that we can put the games on star schedule. It means something for coaches and players. “
Having excellent clashes helps. The game between Watkins ‘USC and Bueckers’ Uconn On December 21 It was shown in star schedule after an NFL game and averaged 2.2 million viewers, reaching its maximum point at almost 3.8 million. That was the second female game seen on the network behind Clark game last year when he established the NCAA score record.
The network also helped lead two new tournaments this year with the Champions Classic and the Coreta Scott King Invitational. Both were renewed for the next season.
CBS showed him Third confrontation of the season Between UCLA and USC, two of the best teams in the country, in the game of the title Big Ten and attracted 1.44 million viewers, just following the league championship last season that saw Clark and Iowa win.
ESPN had large numbers with regular seasonal ratings up to 3% compared to last year and 41% for two seasons. This was the most observed year for the network before the NCAA since 2008-09 (the network did not have many of Clark’s regular seasonal games in Iowa last season).
A double game on February 16 was huge for ESPN: Uconn vs. South Carolina Drew 1.8 million viewers while LSU vs. Texas It had 1.7 million. In total, 15 games at ESPN Networks averaged more than 500,000 spectators, the most in a single year.
ESPN, which has the rights of the NCAA tournament and shows female games every week during the season, has faith in March’s madness.
The Women’s Basketball Programming Director Dan Margulis, knows that the network had a perfect storm last season to achieve the record grades that saw the women’s championship game Extract men. Clark, a generational player, had guided Iowa to the championship game where they faced an undefeated team from South Carolina in search of their own place in history.
“We are seeing early rounds and everything that grows in it,” said Margulis. “Compared to two years ago, we see that growth.”
It wasn’t just the championship game that generated large numbers. A rematch between Reese and Clark in the Elite Eight game was also huge.
“Certainly, the floor has increased dramatically,” said ESPN Rebecca Lobo presenter. “The expectation for this year’s tournament, Final Four or the National Championship should not be what we saw a year ago. Is it better than pre-caitlin? That floor should be much higher than it was. ”
While there is no undefeated team this year or a generational player like Clark in his last race, there is more parity in sport.
People are not only watching on television, but also appears in the games. The power conferences had strong assistance brands. The SD led the way, establishing numerous records of the conference, including total for its tournament and the brand both in the semifinals and in the finals.
The Big Ten had its second highest average assistance in the last 15 years.
“Of course, we can see some of the best, but energy was different throughout the country,” said Lobo. “The South Carolina game of LSU on Thursday night with 2,500 students has a different energy. The increase of students throughout the country has made incredible environments. “
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