Since the 2023 Final Four, we’ve talked a lot about how women’s basketball is at an inflection point. How the drama and star power of Iowa vs. South Carolina and then LSU was bringing an unprecedented amount of interest and coverage to the sport, creating a moment on which the stakeholders had to capitalize.
It’s far too early to make pronouncements about how the NCAA and its television partners have served the game thus far this season, or whether the new media rights deal will do enough to continue to grow the sport. But it’s fair to say enough people paid attention to what transpired in Dallas — and on TVs across the country — last year.
I started this college season in Charlotte watching Iowa vs. Virginia Tech, a game that drew 15,000-plus fans — a state record in North Carolina for women’s basketball — despite neither team being local. The Charlotte Sports Foundation and Ally Bank decided that the 2023 Final Four was proof that these two teams would travel well and put on a show, so they created this showcase and were rewarded with a tremendous game. Kenny Brooks said the treatment his players got from the moment they arrived in North Carolina was comparable to the Final Four. The atmosphere made Charlotte feel like a college hoops hotbed rather than a…
