The End of March Madness Brings April Sadness
The University of Iowa’s sophomore stand-out, Caitlin Clark
This year’s March Madness Recap
Another round of March Madness has finally come to a close, and it is only fitting that we recap the record-breaking year.
In August of 2021, the law firm Kaplan, Hecker and Fink were hired to investigate the disparities between the 2021 men’s and women’s NCAA basketball tournaments in a “gender equity review.” One change suggested by the firm in the 115-page report was to make March Madness branding synonymous with the men’s and women’s tournaments.
But why is adding the title to the women’s tournament important? The brand recognition that March Madness carries will open doors to more marketing opportunities that will, in turn, elevate the tournament. We’ve already seen this in action. ESPN sold out of advertising spots for the women’s tournament over a month before the first games began. Twenty-two advertisers earned spots, with 14 of those being NCAA corporate sponsors. Sean Hanrahan, Senior VP of Sports Brand Solutions at ESPN, said, “the spotlight is on women’s sports as hidden gems. Brands are starting to realize that it is a highly engaged audience with good ratings, so why shouldn’t they be there?”
2022 is also the first year that the women’s championship field consisted of 68 teams. More fans attended the first and second-round games than ever before. The 216,890 spectators across 32 sessions ousted the previous record set in 2004 of 214,290 spectators. The second-round Iowa vs. Creighton game at the University of Iowa broke the single-site record for opening weekend attendance with 14,382 fans in the stands. Players on both teams agreed that it was one of the most special environments they had ever played in, by far. Despite many believing the proximity of the two schools led to the high attendance, it is hard to ignore the opportunity to see one of the most prolific scorers in the country, Iowa’s Caitlin Clark, on full display.
Viewership continued to increase as the tournament raged on. The Stanford vs. UConn Final Four match-up drew 3.23 million viewers, making it the most-watched women’s semi-final since 2012. Similarly, the Louisville vs. South Carolina game scored 2.16 million viewers, a 23 percent year-over-year increase.
The Women’s National Championship between South Carolina and UConn was the most-watched women’s title game in two decades, with 4.85 million viewers and peaking at 5.91 million. This was an 18 percent increase from 2021 and a 30 percent increase from 2019. The Target Center in Minneapolis was also packed with 18,304 fans in attendance.
The University of South Carolina Gamecocks celebrate winning the National Championship
The progress has been encouraging, but as the late Kobe Bryant once said, “job’s not finished.” The women’s title game was played on Sunday, April 3rd, the same night as the Grammy’s and various NBA match-ups. However, the NCAA made sure there were no major events on the same night as the men’s championship, with the NBA halting all games for the day.
Collegiate athletics is not the only area women’s sports have seen a boost in viewership numbers. This week’s WNBA draft was the most-watched since 2004, with 403,000 viewers on ESPN, a 21 percent increase from last year’s draft. If there is one thing we can take away from this year’s March Madness, when women’s sports are given the proper platform it deserves, and fans are given the opportunity to support their teams, arenas are filled and TVs are on.
Veronica Burton, the No. 7 overall pick, went to the Dallas Wings
Sources: Yahoo!Sports, CBS Sports, Just Women’s Sports, ESPN