The 2024 NCAA women’s basketball national championship has been decided – South Carolina beat Iowa today 87-75 in Cleveland, Ohio. The game was played at Rocket Mortgage Field House, home arena of the Cleveland Cavaliers NBA team, with capacity of 19,432. From this shot, it looks like it was pretty darn full! I attended one of the regional semifinal games in Portland, Oregon, and was happy that Texas (my team!) beat Gonzaga. The arena (Moda Center, home of the Portland Trail Blazers, capacity 19,393) was pretty full, probably 8000-10000 (media coverage had total Portland attendance at over 40000). Attendance overall has been up (sources: NCAA.com, Front Office Sports overall season attendance, Front Office Sports Iowa-UConn attendance/viewership, Oregon Public Broadcasting).
To contrast, I attended the University of Texas from 1980-1985, and began attending women’s basketball games in 1982. The number of fans at games was so small, and so quiet, that the main sound during much of the game was the squeaking from the player’s shoes. As a member of the Longhorn Band, we had a great impact at games (since almost no one else was making any noise). At the Moda Center, although all teams playing had bands and cheerleaders, the general crowd noise limited the effect of those groups. In the Texas-Gonzaga game, there was a point in the second half where Gonzaga was making a run to get back in the game, and the Gonzaga fans were pretty effective in cheering “Let’s Go Zags” for 1-2 minutes, but when Texas stopped their run, that was pretty much it for the Gonzaga crowd. It was fun being able to make an cheering impact like we did in the 1980s, but I am glad that the sport has progressed through the excellent play of Iowa, South Carolina, Texas, Gonzaga, and many great teams, and has had great increases in attendance. I’m looking forward to next year!
The level of play in NCAA women’s basketball jumped to a new level this year, that is for sure. A great sign for the sport, looking forward to next year!