Women’s March Madness was expected to be more compelling than the men’s, and the numbers proved this. The tournament hype — largely driven by Iowa’s star guard Caitlin Clark — resulted in the most-watched college basketball games in ESPN history.

Instead of letting women’s March Madness’ media rights hit the market, ESPN renewed its NCAA deal in January — and it’s already paying dividends. While many stars have been knocked out of this year’s tournament, Iowa’s presence in the Final Four will likely have networks and advertisers rooting for Clark to win it all.

Basketball nonprofit PeacePlayers is hosting its first-ever, in-person Girls Summit event in NYC this weekend. Big brand stars are showing up to support girls in sports during the event, which is a meaningful investment in community and brand equity.

While official data points from women's March Madness have yet to drop, there’s a general consensus building that the women’s tournament is more compelling than the men’s. A recent Seton Hall Sports Poll (the first and only university-based poll on the sports industry) reflects the rising popularity of women’s college basketball.

As of this week, women’s March Madness ads are effectively sold out. It’s estimated that Disney — the network that owns the women’s tournament — could generate more than $25M in ad sales revenue this year, up from the estimated $19.4M ESPN and ABC made during last year’s tourney.

This year’s women’s March Madness is expected to outperform the men’s across a variety of metrics, in large part thanks to Sedona Prince’s whistleblowing in 2021 that shed light on the gender disparity between the men’s and women’s tournaments. Here’s how the competition has grown in the years since.

The 2023-24 NCAA women’s basketball season was one for the books, and it’s not even over yet. Leading up to March Madness, women’s collegiate conference tournaments shattered records across the board, with the Big Ten and SEC tournaments drawing viewership in the millions.

Canadian billionaire Larry Tanenbaum is reportedly working to bring a WNBA franchise to Toronto after previous efforts stalled last year. Tanenbaum is chairman of the Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment (MLSE) sports group — owner of Toronto’s NHL, NBA, and MLS franchises — and is hoping to add women’s basketball to his sports portfolio.

Financial services company Ally — a women’s sports sponsorship heavy-hitter — inked a multiyear deal with the two-time WNBA champion Las Vegas Aces yesterday, marking the brand’s first foray into the league.

The Caitlin Clark Effect. Clarkonomics. The Iowa star’s game-changing influence on college basketball encompasses many terms, but thanks to her declaration for the 2024 WNBA Draft, there’s a new one: Caitlin Clark Fever. Clark is already reshaping the economy for her expected landing place, the Indiana Fever.

After a record-breaking women’s March Madness in 2023, the popularity of women’s college basketball — and namely aforementioned Iowa star Caitlin Clark — keeps on growing, but the NCAA is still playing catch up. The Big Ten women’s basketball tournament officially sold out this weekend, two whole weeks before the event tips off.

Last Saturday’s Stephen vs. Sabrina 3-point challenge was the first formal competition between an NBA and WNBA player during All-Star Weekend. Seeing the athletes on equal footing proves we’re beyond the “Battle of the Sexes” dichotomy — fans simply want to see legends of the game compete, something that will help both leagues.