Women’s Basketball’s Media Boom is Rewriting NCAA Economics
For years, critics questioned whether NCAA Women’s Basketball could truly command major television revenue. Over the past two seasons, that debate has been emphatically answered, and the numbers are impossible to ignore. The 2024 national championship game between Iowa and South Carolina drew a staggering 18.7 million viewers on ABC, making it the most-watched women’s college basketball game in history and outdrawing the men’s title game that same year. That wasn’t just a feel-good milestone; it was a market statement. Women’s basketball didn’t just compete; it won the ratings war on the sport’s biggest stage.
This is where the debate truly intensifies: this isn’t about one transcendent star or one viral moment. The 2023 championship averaged over nine million viewers, meaning the 2024 title game nearly doubled its audience year-over-year. The 2024 Women’s Final Four semifinals averaged more than 14 million viewers, proving sustained national interest beyond a single matchup. Throughout the 2024–25 season, ESPN reported record-breaking regular-season audiences, with multiple games surpassing the one million viewer mark. Once considered a ceiling for the sport. When viewership doubles in a year and remains elevated the next season, that’s not just hype, that’s influence.
That leverage showed up quickly in the NCAA’s new eight-year, $920 million media rights agreement with ESPN, signed in 2024 and running through 2032. The deal bundles 40 championships, but make no mistake, women’s basketball is the economic engine driving the value conversation. For decades, Women’s March Madness was packaged and priced in ways many analysts argued undervalued its growth potential. Now, with record audiences and premium advertising slots, each women’s tournament game carries significantly greater commercial weight. The real debate moving forward isn’t whether women’s basketball has value; it’s whether it deserves a fully separate media deal that could unlock even more revenue.
The impact stretches far beyond television executives and conference commissioners. NIL has become the immediate beneficiary of this surge. As millions tune in to Women’s March Madness, athletes are building national brands in real time, landing endorsement deals with major corporations and capitalizing on social media engagement that rivals professional players. Visibility drives marketability, and marketability drives dollars. When championship games command nearly 19 million viewers, sponsors are no longer experimenting; they begin investing. Programs also benefit from increased exposure, stronger recruiting weight, and greater institutional support fueled by measurable return on investment.
So, here’s the bold truth: women’s college basketball isn’t asking for a seat at the table anymore, it’s restructuring the table entirely. Two straight seasons of explosive ratings growth have transformed the sport from a promising asset into a media powerhouse. If current trends hold, future negotiations could dramatically increase the standalone financial value of each March Madness broadcast, altering revenue distribution models across college athletics. The conversation has shifted from ‘Can it sustain?’ to ‘How much higher can it climb?’ If the past two seasons are any indication, the ceiling may be far higher than anyone predicted.
