NCAAW Outdraw NCAAM

[WLT1717]

Very curious to see tv ratings, and IA road game/Big10 attendance in the post-CC era.

 

[JellyBean]

That is awesome!! Considering the women's final was 1). Not a prime time game. 2). It was on a Sunday at 3pm EST. That is very impressive. Congrats, Ladies!!

 

[Zonepress]

What would be very interesting to know is what’s the demographic breakdown of those folks to watch the women’s final?
Are more women watching the game
Is it young people?
Is the mail if you were normally doesn’t watch women’s sports watching the game
I don’t know if this type of research can’t be done but to me, that would be very interesting
I’ve always thought that for a women’s basketball to grow female fans and young folks would need to be their base of fans

 

[Bjbod]

All I can comment on is the environment at Iowa. The vibe/demographic at WBB games is definitely different than MBB and football.
If there was data on the Womens vs Mens Championship games I bet you'd see that as well. If the men played Sunday afternoon and the women Monday nite, I'd bet alot of money the women would still out draw the men. Look how much people were willing to pay to go to those road Iowa games, and how long they'd wait in line to get in the arenas. Nothing remotely similar on the men's side.

As to WLZ1717's post, I predict attendance at Iowa's road games next year to be down 60% and TV numbers for the big March Madness games to be down 35% or more.

 

[Rowdy831]

The men’s game was on cable (TBS) at 9:20 at night

That was part of it for sure. You also had two smaller market teams playing but the quality of the game was fantastic. To me CC was the draw based on what the numbers were for non Iowa games but people watched. It will be up to someone else to continue the enthusiasm for next season for WCBB.

 

[huskiemaniac]

D

The Women's game has always been more entertaining as they play a better game of BB. Take away the men's " DUNK " and the game is boring. 7'2", 7'1", 6'10" and so on, makes Men's scoring a joke. My opinion

Dont agree…UConn men play the game the right way…and it’s beautifu!

 

[Smp7598]

Oh please let see the ratings without C.C next year! I love the UConn Women but I’m not a believer in the new popularity of womens basketball!

 

[ConnManFan]

It will be interesting to see if the men's side cares. If they do, the game will move to CBS and will start at least an hour earlier. The men get over a billion a year through 2032 while the women just re-upped with ESPN for 115 million a year through 2032. That 115 number is also shared with 39 other ncaa championship events. With the numbers being locked in for both sides for the next decade, maybe they just dont care.

 

[WiseWillie]

Will no one say that the reason behind the record numbers watching the womens NC was the continual build-up of CC ('Greatest player of all time " type of promo headlines?) on ESPN and all the major sports media and entertainment channels, even on Entertainment Tonight and the late night shows. Get real. How many men's players or teams received that kind of exposure? Nil.

Don't take this wrong. Hooray for the increased exposure of the women's game. But how many spectators who never watched a women's game in the past could even tell you the players on the SC champions? Maybe 10% at most? And that, sports fans, is the problem. We all - even the sports prognosticators - have been the subject of a monumental promotion that succeeded in captivating a large audience. The question now is what is the follow up? Follow CC in the WNBA? Choose another player to promote the same way in the college ranks?

 

[David54]

Wonder what the numbers would be if UConn Purdue had been on CBS rather than TBS.