The Future of Womens basketball

March 26, 2023, Louisville, and Iowa play each other in the Elite Eight. This was the night more people watched Iowa and Louisville go face to face than any NBA game on ESPN that season.

Last season women's college basketball broke enormous barriers, Including the Iowa and Louisville game that got 2.7 million views at its peak. The championship game, LSU, vs Iowa got 9.9 million views, the peak being 12 million. Being the most watched NCAA women's basketball game in history.

Angel Reese, Hailey Van Lith, Caitlin Clark, and many more players help pull in these millions of fans. LSU broke an attendance record in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center. (LSU arena) 15,721 people watch LSU defeat Mississippi State, the arena only holds 13,215 people.

Why are people watching?

Why is there a sudden increase in viewership for college women's basketball? For starters women's basketball has improved significantly. With the rise of AAU leagues for female athletes. Another factor is media coverage, the past few years media outlets have been focusing more attention on women's sports. With that, women's college basketball viewership has gone up over 90%. The last time women's basketball had this many eyes on them, was back in 2006.

Future of Women's basketball

This upcoming season is more than likely going to be more successful and bring more viewers. That goes the same for other seasons to come, in college basketball and the WNBA. The WNBA's future is looking pretty good. Main reason being that a lot of these players will go on to play in the WNBA, which will bring more media coverage of the game. This year the WNBA's fan attendance went up 24%. The Las Vegas Aces, and the New York Liberty reported an increase in ticket sales. It's safe to say that women's sports are on the rise and will bring in more eyes in the next coming years.