Today’s host journalist is William Mao, senior vice president of Octagon’s Global Media Rights Consulting section.
March Madness is in full swing.
In the men’s game, frame breaking is in full result as many higher seeds, including violet bloods Kansas and Kentucky, have already been upset. While on the women’s area, Iowa and South Carolina remain on the protest toward a name- game showdown in Cleveland.
Back in January, ESPN inked an eight- yr,$ 920 million dollars media rights improvement with the NCAA that included the Division I Women’s Basketball Championship as part of an all- embracing deal for 40 unique NCAA championships. The new deal values the women’s game at an average of$ 65 million per month, more than half of the entire deal’s regular monthly price ($ 115 million per season ) from 2024- 25 through 2031- 32. The$ 65 million annual increase in the women’s tournament’s average annual value is also nearly 12x higher than the previous deal’s value.

Since 2021, ESPN has televised every activity of the children’s NCAA Tournament in its totality, a shift from the slap- around cover utilized in the past. The Worldwide Leader’s devotion to airing the women’s game has paid big income. Viewers was up 55 % year- over- year for the 2023 version, every circular saw at least twice- decimal increases in audience, and next year’s title game featuring Iowa and LSU was the most- viewed women’s college basketball game on record ( 9.9 million viewers ). The women’s title game was also the most- viewed college basketball game ever, men’s or women’s, on ESPN platforms.
The women’s NCAA Tournament has contributed close to 15 % of the total consumption hours that the men’s tournament drives during its championship over the past three seasons, and on a peak-to-peak basis, the women’s tournament contributes nearly 40 % of the equivalent consumption for their respective title games.
While the women’s NCAA Tournament is now on par with the men’s tournament in linear distribution—and, since 2022, in” March Madness” branding as well—this parity of national telecasts does not yet exist for the regular season. Per Octagon analysis, in 2023- 24 the ratio of men’s to women’s regular season college basketball games shown on national TV networks was roughly 6: 1 across all of Division I. In other words, for every six regular season men’s basketball games that were broadcast nationally on television, only one women’s basketball game was similarly exhibited. The national TV distribution ratio was at best only 3:1, even among power conferences and the Big East. However, there are also a number of D-I conferences with little to no national television coverage of women’s basketball in the regular season before their conference tournament games.
Women’s college basketball games have shown that they wo n’t “get out of the gym” when given comparable TV exhibition opportunities as men’s games, as well as that they have the ability to draw comparable audiences. The overtime thriller that aired on CBS this year’s Big Ten women’s championship game between Iowa and Nebraska, which averaged 3.02 million viewers, more than it did when 3.08 million viewers tuned in to watch Duke play rival North Carolina in men’s basketball that same weekend.

Iowa star Caitlin Clark broke the NCAA scoring record on March 3 ( 3.39 million ), breaking the most viewers for any female regular season game on any network this season. Additionally, Fox reported that its coverage of regular season women’s college basketball actually outrated the network’s men’s broadcasts by 26 % this year. ESPN had 13 regular season women’s college basketball broadcasts draw more than 500, 000 viewers, including two SEC matchups that topped 1 million. Additionally, two of the Women’s Conference Tournament broadcasts on The Big Ten Network exceeded 1 million viewers this year.
The audience for women’s college basketball is growing, and so is interest from brands looking for more opportunities to invest in women’s hoops coverage. Per ESPN, the 2023 women’s March Madness tournament attracted nearly 100 different advertising partners, up from 22 advertisers for the 2022 tournament. A similar number of new and returning brands as well as seven new category sponsors are also present at this year’s tournament. Women’s college basketball players have also increased their number of NIL deals with brands by 60 % year over year, in addition to the 186 % increase in NIL deals seen the year before.
Women’s college basketball deserves more national TV opportunities during the regular season, but conferences and broadcasters must prioritize expanding women’s basketball linear programming as a key requirement in their current and upcoming media rights agreements in order for us to see more women’s games on television in future years. This endeavor will benefit from exploring alternative tip-off times to increase showcase opportunities while maintaining an innovative approach to nonconference scheduling.
Caitlin Clark may be a once-in-a-generation talent, but the best way to harness and expand her impact is through increased TV exposure, so that interest in women’s college basketball wo n’t last long after her One Shining Moment.
Mao is Senior VP of Octagon’s Global Media Rights Consulting division. Leveraging IPG and Octagon proprietary data, research, and technology, he advises rightsholders, distribution platforms, technology companies and the investment community within the sports broadcast space. Within the collegiate athletics space Mao’s clients have included the Atlantic Coast Conference, Conference USA, University of Oklahoma and the West Coast Conference, amongst many other high- profile conferences and universities.