With the growth of Women’s Sports on the rise women’s sports have shown exponential growth throughout the years. According to a recent ESPN demographic on March 25 2024, viewership of the Women’s National Championship game has more than doubled in the span of one year. The title matchup of the National Championship between Connecticut (UConn) and South Carolina in the 2022 tournament registered 4.9 million viewers, while the National Championship game between Iowa and Louisiana State (LSU) in 2023 notched 9.9 million viewers. With March Madness here, the Women’s College Basketball Tournament has shown tremendous growth not only in terms of attraction but branding as well throughout the years. According to Fortune, 87 brands are in with the Women’s March Madness Tournament, doubling revenue compared to last year. Before 2022, the Women’s College Basketball Tournament wasn’t called “March Madness,” as the men’s tournament has been dubbed for years.
In fact, the women’s tournament was simply called the “Division I Women’s Basketball Tournament.” This sparked a face toward inequality towards Women’s College Basketball. Having a “special” name would allow for the women’s basketball community to carry a mark towards equality compared with the men’s basketball.
It wasn’t until 2022 (42 years ago) until the Women’s College Basketball Tournament was finally allowed to be branded as “March Madness.” This created a positive step forward for not only women’s college basketball but also women’s sports in general; the men’s basketball tournament is not the only tournament being called “March Madness” anymore.
Controversy wasn’t raised until March of 2021, when former player for the University of Oregon (UO), Sedona Prince, (now a Texas Christian University player) posted a TikTok to raise awareness for the women’s basketball tournament and their inequality versus men’s college basketball.
Prince posted a video which first highlighted the inequality of the men’s and women’s weight rooms at their respective Final Fours. Later posting more videos about meals and gear to spark more significance to women’s sports inequalities. Meals were a whole buffet for men while women only had to-go meals.
The video sparked millions of reactions, not only from Americans, but also internationally. This allowed for a whole new weight room setup overnight for women’s college basketball teams, buffet meals, and more gear: March Madness branded gear. Allowing this to carry over to other womens sports advocates Megan Rapione, Sue Bird and A’ja Wilson speaking out on how proud they are for these young women to have a voice in this world.
Not only has the branding of “March Madness” on the women’s side grown, but brand partnership for women’s basketball has also improved. University of Iowa phenomenon Caitlin Clark has secured promotional deals with well-known brands.
Brands like Nike, Gatorade, Buick and State Farm are just a few of the brands now partnering with Clark. Gatorade made a commercial of her being called ‘You Can Too’ featuring footage of Clark playing basketball as a child. Also adding into commercials with Nike and State Farm. Clark is not the only high-profile player in Women’s College Basketball.
Paige Bueckers, a University of Connecticut (UConn) guard, also has large brand deals. Nike, Dunkin’, and Bose are among the many brands that Bueckers has endorsements with.
These large brands have helped women to have a voice not only on the court but off the court as well. These companies recognize the potential for growth in women’s sports, and are attaching themselves to female athletes creating relationships that are valuable for companies. Adding more traction to women’s sports and also companies who choose to sponsor these athletes.
Big brands like Bose and Nike allow women to carry a strong, independent, persona. These successful brand partnerships for female athletes are proving that women’s sports can be just as popular – and just as profitable – as men’s sports.
Certainly, women’s sports aren’t completely equal yet compared to men’s. One big disparity in the area of equal pay. However, through continual growth and advocacy, women’s sports are no longer on the sideline.
On February 3, the Hartford Wolfpack held a Girl’s Sports Day to honor the growth & development of women’s sports. The event, held at Hartford’s XL Center, home to the Hartford Wolf Pack, aimed to show girls that they can leave a mark on not only sports but the world at large.
The Hartford Wolfpack has left a populated mark in support of Women’s Sports Day, hosting a panel of three women who worked in the sports industry discussing their experiences for a crowd made up primarily of Girl Scouts and other young girls who attended the event before the Wolf Pack’s game. For years, women’s sports have been considered the minority, making it hard for women and girls to participate in athletics, changing as of late.
The Professional Women’s Ice Hockey League (PWHL) was created in 2024. This allows younger girls to have a future in the sport of Ice Hockey that can lead them to making large amounts of money later in their future. Laura Brennan, one of the Assistant Coaches for New York’s Team describes it, “There are other leagues before that haven’t stood the test of time so hopefully this league with all the best players playing together will be able to do that.” Changes have been made in the sports industry, but it’s time to see if it can stand up there and allow profit to be made for the teams to continue to keep going.
Ashley O’Connor is ESPN’s Senior Director of Programming & Acquisitions. She stands in charge of the network’s coverage of the National Basketball Association (NBA), Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA), and combat sports such as boxing and Mixed Martial Arts (MMA).
Growing up she played sports, but once injuries restricted her from play, she started volunteering with the high school girls soccer team, channeling her love for sports into a career in journalism.
Her journey into the sports industry was very unique, O’Connor says, “I worked in college athletics before ESPN, specifically in two mid-major conferences where I oversaw championships, basketball scheduling, and officiating.” O’Connor indicated that she was fortunate to have those opportunities through internships, but few other women had access to such experiences.
Women’s Sports is on the rise and the plans with data indicating that growth will not stop anytime soon.
No matter what age you are from a little girl to playing pickleball at your local community center, women are now able to be a part of sports no matter your age all through advocates.