Caitlin Clark-frenzy is Just One of Many Examples of Growth of Women's Sports
It's a Great Time to be a Women's Sports Fan. Credit - Andy Lyons/Getty Images
Justin Scott, Sports Reporter || Published Online 4/1/2024, Appearing in 4/4 Ledger
In a post-NIL, transfer-heavy collegiate sports world, where a few conferences hold nearly all the power in division one athletics, there’s no doubt there’s problems with college athletics right now. There’s no telling what the future of college sports looks like, but there is one area of promise in campus athletics facilities around the country.
As we move into April, it was evident this past March that women’s sports are making huge strides.
“People are more excited about the women’s side than the men’s side, and I think that’s obviously something that’s never really been the case before,” Iowa 22-year old senior guard Caitlin Clark said about March Madness this year. It wasn’t even a hot take, it was totally true. The women's tournament this year is more exciting.
On one side you have a dominant South Carolina team. When you’re favored against the field entering the NCAA Tournament, it’s pretty impressive. It’s like early 2000’s Tiger Woods when it was a coinflip whether he won the entire tournament.
On the other side you have the torch bearer of women’s sports right now, Caitlin Clark. The homegrown Iowan, NCAA Division I scoring leader all-time, and basketball superstar has helped Iowa break attendance records, finished runner-up last year, and has created tremendous interest in the game.
The committee did the Hawkeyes no favors with a brutal draw despite being a one-seed. A battle with three-seed LSU, a national championship rematch from last year happened this Monday, and undoubtedly will be a very interesting game.
It’s not just Clark helping make this year’s women’s tournament so compelling. UCONN’s Paige Bueckers, LSU’s Angel Reese, USC’s JuJu Watson are names that both command attention and interest. It’s star power that men's college basketball doesn’t have. Uconn is easily the best team in the country on the men’s side, riding a 30-0 run during their game against Illinois to make the final four, but there’s no household names on that UConn team. Zach Edey, Purdue's big center, might be the biggest name on the men’s side. Then the next few biggest names; Armando Bacot (UNC), Hunter Dickinson (Kansas), Tyler Kolek (Marquette), none of whom will make the final four. Maybe you could add in Kyle Filipowski (Duke), but it’s not like in the past where you tuned in to watch players like Steph Curry, Jimmer Fredette, Buddy Hield, Zion WIlliamson. Part of the reasoning for this is the transfer portal. "People crave familiarity," ESPN's Colin Cowherd said on this same subject. With so much movement of big names on the men's side, combined with early NBA Draft entries, you aren't seeing those four year starters on the same team as much anymore.
Photo - Associated Press
Caitlin Clark frenzy is part of a wider trend in the growth of women’s sports. Nebraska Volleyball played in front of the largest crowd to see a women's sporting event in any sport in history in their football stadium. Tickets to Nebraska-Wisconsin, who sat 1-2 in the national polls nearly all year, soared well past $500. Oklahoma Softball has been shattering records, winning 71 games in a row from 2023-2024. The Women's World Cup in Australia and New Zealand made waves globally setting attendance records, with Spain lifting the trophy. The end of an era for women's soccer legends like Marta (Brazil) and the start of a new one with exciting new players like Salma Paralluelo (Spain).
While athletes like Serena Williams, Simone Biles, Michelle Wie, and more recently young tennis stars like Naomi Osaka and CoCo Gauff, have made global headlines in individual sports, the team sports were left behind.
Part of the blame can be laid with national media. ESPN devoted nearly no coverage to women’s sports in the 2000’s, early 2010’s, and only recently has coverage finally felt more equal. Media coverage of women’s sports has nearly tripled in the last five years according to new research published in Forbes. There was a 5,124 hour increase from 2021 to 2022 in women’s sports coverage led by women’s basketball, soccer, tennis, softball, and volleyball. 60 percent of girls participate in a high school sport and more 30 percent are watching more women’s sports than five years ago. The reason why? There’s actually games on tv, coverage on Sportscenter. Streaming services actually help, allowing for more options than ever before.
The high school game hasn’t quite seen that gap in media coverage at least. In a way high school sports have benefited from state associations treating both boys and girls sports fairly equally. It is promising to see LHS girls sports success being met with plenty of fan support. Volleyball and girls basketball are two spectator sports with recent success that have enjoyed sizable crowds to celebrate along with them.
There’s plenty of progress to be made, in society, in terms of attendance for high school sporting events, in terms of media coverage of collegiate and professional women’s sports. For now though, let's enjoy same good college basketball
