The check-in: March Madness attendance numbers are even better than advertised
I made charts!!!
Hi. How are you all doing?
I am both exhausted and invigorated. I spent a lot of last week driving all around North Carolina and Virginia in search of excellent women’s college basketball, and I think it’s safe to say I found it.
Most of my week was spent in Raleigh, North Carolina, where No. 3 N.C. State was hosting its first-weekend NCAA tournament pod, which featured No. 14 Chattanooga, No. 11 Green Bay, No. 6 Tennessee, and, of course, N.C. State, which advanced to the Sweet 16. On Sunday, I also fit in a quick trip up to Blacksburg, Virginia, to watch No. 4 Virginia Tech lose to No. 5 Baylor in the second round.
It was an amazing week, but before I could even sit down to try and process my thoughts for this here newsletter, two of the coaches I’d watched had already left their jobs for new schools.
On Tuesday, Clemson officially announced it hired Shawn Poppie, formerly the head coach at Chattanooga, as its new head coach; and Kentucky announced that it hired Kenny Brooks, formerly the head coach at Virginia Tech, as its new head coach.
And so the women’s basketball world marches on, with the 43rd season of NCAA women’s basketball debuting before the season finale of season 42 is even aired. (And before I’ve even unpacked my suitcase from my night in Blacksburg, but that’s probably just a me problem.)
Paid subscribers to Power Plays (click the link above to become one) will get in-depth thoughts on my time in Raleigh and Blacksburg tomorrow, but before we get to our whip-around coverage of the week in women’s sports, I want to take a moment to talk about host sites and the first weekend of the NCAA women’s basketball tournament at large.
Okay, friends. Let’s do this.
A deep dive into attendance numbers from the first weekend, which are FANTASTIC
In addition to record-breaking viewership numbers, the first weekend of the NCAA DI women’s basketball tournament also smashed attendance records — a total of 292,456 fans watched first-and-second-round games in person, a 26 percent increase over the 2023 record. For perspective, that already makes this the fourth-most attended women’s NCA basketball tournament ever, trailing only 2023 (357,542), 2022 (317,456), and 1999 (300,527), and we haven’t even had the Sweet 16, Elite Eight, or Final Four yet.
But if we dive into the numbers, things get even more impressive. There’s so much talk about how Caitlin Clark’s singular popularity in Iowa has galvanized the country, or how the fanbases of perennial powerhouses UConn and South Carolina help the sport, but I think it’s crucial to acknowledge that women’s basketball fandom is surging all around the country.
Below, you can see the attendance numbers for each school broken up by rounds. (Even though round one at each school consists of two games, it is all one session, and most schools do not collect individual attendance data for each game.)
Now, let’s talk about it:
An average of 9,139 people attended each session, meaning an average of 18,279 people attended each host site. That is really strong.
I didn’t include the capacity for each venue, because I found conflicting things online for many of them — capacity is always contingent upon configuration. However, I did bold the attendance number if the school officially announced the game was a sellout, and I bolded the total number for the school if both sessions were announced sellouts.
There were announced sellouts for at least one session at Iowa, Notre Dame, Oregon State, NC State, UConn, Gonzaga, Kansas State, and Virginia Tech — eight of the 16 host sites!
That is amazing.
In the above chart I sorted by seed. Now, let’s look at things if you sort by total attendance for the weekend.
(Was this just an excuse to procrastinate and make a pretty chart? Did I actually look up the hex color codes for each school to make this chart? I WILL NEVER TELL.) (Yes.) (And yes.)
But I still think it’s important!
Let’s focus at the top of that chart for a second. I already mentioned that eight host sites reported sellouts for at least one session. (I bolded that again, because I love it.) Well, three of the sites that didn’t have announced sellouts were South Carolina, LSU, and Indiana, which all had more than 25,000 combined fans and were the second, third, and fourth-most attended host sites, right behind Iowa.
Now let’s focus on the bottom of the chart. N.C. State and Gonzaga were two of the three least-attended host sites, but they both had announced sellouts for both sessions they hosted! So really, it’s all relative.
As I mentioned above, I spent most of my time in Raleigh, which had the lowest attendance of any host site all weekend. But Reynolds Coliseum was absolutely, positively, rocking — it was one of the loudest environments I had ever been in, and I promise you I’m not exaggerating.
This time every year, the same debate pops up: Should the women’s tournament continue to have the top four seeds in each region host the first weekend, or should it move the first two rounds to neutral sites like the men’s tournament? Is it fair for lower seeds to play such important tournament games in such a hostile environment?
Well, I firmly come down on the side of keeping things the way they are. First off, these attendance numbers are really strong, and every single host site provided a phenomenal playing environment over the first weekend. I believe in equality, obviously, but I do not think that means that the women *must* do everything the men do. In fact, I think host sites help set the women’s tournament apart in a good way.
And yes, the host teams have an advantage over the visiting teams, but that advantage is earned, just like teams in pro sports can earn home-court/field advantage in the playoffs with great regular-season play. In fact, because the difference between a No. 4 and No. 5 seed is so huge, it makes the regular season — and especially the conference tournaments — that much more important, which I think that is great for the game.
Plus, hosting the first weekend is not a free pass into the Sweet 16. This year, three visiting teams made it to the Sweet 16 — No. 5 Colorado, No. 5 Baylor, and No. 7 Duke. A fourth almost got there, when No. 7 Iowa State pushed No. 2 Stanford to overtime. Last year, No. 9 Miami, No. 8 Ole Miss, No. 5 Louisville, and No. 6 Colorado all made it out of the first two rounds. Three years ago, two No. 10 seeds (Creighton and South Dakota) even made the Sweet 16. Upsets do happen!
For now, let’s keep things the way they are — with one very important caveat.
The NCAA must do more to prioritize the safety of players and protect them racist abuse
The absolute worst story last weekend came out of Spokane, Washington, where No. 4 Gonzaga hosted No. 5 Utah, No. 12 South Dakota State, and No. 13 UC Irvine.
The Utah Utes were initially placed at a hotel in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, about 30 miles away from Spokane. Last Thursday night, when they left their hotel to walk to a restaurant, a truck with a confederate flag on it revved its engine and yelled the n-word at the team and its traveling party, which included cheerleaders, band members, and staff. The same thing happened when they exited the restaurant, except that time, more than one truck was present.
The team was moved to another hotel, but the damage was already done. You can read more about the disturbing details of the racist hate crime here.
While it is impossible 100 percent guarantee that players in the tournament won’t be met with racism, the NCAA must take every proactive step possible to prevent it. In this case, they did not. Coeur d'Alene, Idaho is a known for its recent history of racism and white nationalism.
This leads us back to the biggest negative about having schools host first-weekend games: It is a logistics nightmare. Neutral sites for the men’s NCAA tournament and for the women’s regionals and Final Four are decided years in advance, giving the hosts plenty of time to prepare hotels, transportation, and the such. The hosts for the first two rounds of the women’s tournament are given mere days.
Now, a lot of preparation starts before Selection Sunday — the NCAA works with potential host schools months in advance to make sure their accommodations fit NCAA requirements. But to make a long story short, multiple sporting events, including the men’s NCAA tournament, were happening in Spokane last weekend, hotel space was limited, and the NCAA granted Gonzaga a waiver and approved the hotel in Coeur d'Alene, despite the city’s deep ties to white nationalism.
That should never have happened. If schools cannot provide appropriate spaces for visiting teams, they should not be allowed to host, no matter what seed they are. Safety is the most important thing, and if we have to give up everything I love about our current set-up to ensure that it is prioritized, then that’s absolutely what we should do.
My proposal to fix the First Four
Okay, sorry, I have one more thing to talk about before the whip-around: The First Four.
If you don’t know, the First Four are official NCAA tournament games played the week before the first round of the tournament tips off, to see who gets the last two at-large bids and the last two automatic bids into the Round of 64. The men’s tournament has been holding the First Four since 2011. However, the women’s tournament wasn’t granted a First Four until 2022.
On the men’s side, Dayton, Ohio hosts the First Four every single year at UD Arena. It has become an event unto itself — it nearly sells out every year and provides a big boost to the local economy. It draws a mix of local fans, general basketball fans who plan far in advance to go for the stand-alone experience, and fans of the individual teams, who scramble to get to Dayton after Selection Sunday.
For the women’s tournament, the First Four is hosted at the campus of the top seed in their portion of the bracket. For example, if two No. 16 seeds are facing off in the First Four, they will hold that game at the campus of the No. 1 seed that the winner of said game will face in the first round.
This means nobody — not the First Four schools or the host schools — even know that a First Four game is happening until days before. There is zero chance to promote the game to local fans, and just a very very small window to try to get fans of First Four schools to the venues. This results in absolutely paltry attendance for First Four games.
This year, the most-attended of the First Four games was No. 16 Presbyterian vs. No. 16 Sacred Heart in Columbia, South Carolina; only 1,196 fans were there. Elsewhere, 1,092 fans watched No. 16 Holy Cross vs. No. 16 UT Martin in Iowa City, Iowa; a mere 599 fans watched No. 12 Vanderbilt vs. No 12 Columbia in Blacksburg, Virginia; and a measly 533 watched No. 11 Arizona vs. No. 11 Auburn in Storrs, Connecticut.
My solution? Join the women’s First Four with the men’s in Dayton.
Now, I’m just talking about the First Four here. I have already stated my feelings on the first two rounds, and I thinks women’s basketball has more than proved it can carry regionals and the Final Four by itself; right now, I fear if those events were combined with the men’s tournament they would be treated as an afterthought, and I have no time for that.
But I think adding women to the First Four in Dayton could work. It makes the event even bigger for Dayton, and allows them to have more sessions and sell more tickets and make more money; it provides the women’s First Four teams with an awesome atmosphere and accommodations; and it would help the NCAA shine a bigger light on the women’s tournament, which it just yesterday realized might actually be able to make it some money! The biggest challenge would be getting broadcast partners CBS and ESPN to work together on broadcast logistics, but those kinks can definitely be worked out.
I just think it would make the tip-off of March Madness so much more special if it included both the men’s and women’s tournament, and the joining of forces would help lift the boat for everyone.
The whip-around
In this section, we will quickly get caught up on news and results from around the women’s sports world. It’s not extensive or comprehensive, but it is a lot, and I try!
Here are the NWSL standings after two weeks of play. It’s super early, of course, but it’s absolutely wild to see the Chicago Red Stars at the very top of the table and the Portland Thorns at the very bottom.
In NWSL news, Sophia Smith has signed an extension with the Portland Thorns, giving her the largest base salary in the league and keeping her in the NWSL for sure through next season; a mammoth 32,066 people came to watch San Diego’s opener, a NWSL home opener attendance record; Portland (19,857) and Houston (8,600) both set franchise records for home openers, too; Midge Purce tore her ACL, which is devastating; records; and Marta did this.
Friends, I have been following the USWNT drama all day but this newsletter is already too long. I promise I will fully address it soon, but I did quickly want to add that anti-LGBTQ views have absolutely no place in sports, trans lives MATTER, trans women belong in women’s sports, and I love you all very, very much.
Here are the PWHL standings headed into the break for the world championships, which will be taking place from April 3-14 in Utica, New York.
In the PWHL this week, Ottawa snapped Toronto’s winning streak at 11 straight games; Daryl Watts had a hat trick; and Madison Bizal opened up to Hailey Salvian about her battle with cancer.
Here are the week 10 PVF standings:
We have details on the PVF championship: The semifinals and championship game will both be hosted in Omaha, Nebraska on May 15 and 18, and be broadcast nationally on CBS Sports Network; the winning team will get a $1 million bonus. I love it.
Allisha Gray is your 2024 Athletes Unlimited Hoops champion!
In the LPGA, Nelly Korda won the Fir Hills Seri Pak Championship in a playoff with Ryann O'Toole and regained the No. 1 spot in the rankings.
In the WTA, No. 4 Elena Rybakina will face the winner of the semifinal between No. 14 Ekaterina Alexandrova will face Danielle Collins which is happening now, in the Miami Open final on Saturday. Alexandrova stunned No. 1 Iga Swiatek in the fourth round; No. 23 Caroline Garcia beat both Naomi Osaka and No. 3 Coco Gauff in the third and fourth rounds, respectively; and No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka fell to No. 32 Anhelina Kalinina in the second round after experiencing the tragic death of her ex boyfriend earlier in the week.
We also had figure skating world championships this weekend! In the women’s event, Kaori Sakamota of Japan won gold, Isabeau Levito of the United States won silver, and Kim Chae-yeon of South Korea won bronze.
Here’s a link to the NCAA gymnastics championship bracket. The first and second rounds will take place April 3-5. Oklahoma, LSU, Cal, and Florida are the top seeds.
In the Frozen Four, Ohio State defeated Wisconsin 1-0 to win the NCAA women’s ice hockey national championship!
Finally, in NCAA softball, here’s where things stand:
This past week in softball, No. 7 LSU continued to struggle, losing a series to Missouri the week after losing a series to Ole Miss; No. 11 Virginia Tech had a stunning 25-0 victory over Maryland Eastern Shore last week, then split its series with No. 14 Alabama, setting up a huge ACC series with No. 5 Duke starting tonight; and North Carolina’s Sanaa Thompson somehow made this catch.
I promise I’m going to get this check-in out on Tuesday next week, it’s going to happen.
Several years ago, the University of South Carolina hosted the men's tournament in the first 2 rounds. Even though the women's team was getting good and ot was known that they probably could host, the AD put in for the MBB tourney anyway, but that's another story. So, the women's team could not host the first 2 rounds and played their home games in Charlotte. It's interesting that Spokane could still host both of these tournaments.
And I agree with this one hundred percent. "If schools cannot provide appropriate spaces for visiting teams, they should not be allowed to host, no matter what seed they are."
This is THEEEEE longest post ever, Lindsay! But I like it. I even read the whip-around about things I … don’t particularly care about. Happy to say I was one of the numbers in Corvallis over the weekend, along with my partner one day and a Beaver athlete alum friend on Sunday, and I’m heading to Portland in a couple of hours for this weekend’s games. Spokane is the West Coast Regional next year - I can’t imagine what this is going to do to the numbers. YES, racism is everywhere, but maybe, like, move the regional?? Sigh.