The 2023 and 2024 women’s sports seasons will go down in history as a major turning point in the coverage of women’s sports. Record viewership, key players like Caitlin Clark, and an equal number of male and female athletes in the 2024 Summer Olympics show how much women’s sports are growing and changing.
Many key moments and milestones have shaped this historic year. The most attended women’s sporting event worldwide since 1971 took place on August 30, 2023, when Nebraska’s women's volleyball team faced Omaha: over 92,000 fans attended. To put this in perspective, 62,100 thousand fans attended the Super Bowl in Las Vegas. Moreover, this year's March Madness was the most-watched women’s March Madness ever. The championship matchup between Iowa and South Carolina drew more viewers than the men’s game, averaging around 18.7 million viewers and with around 24 million at most (the men’s game had an average of 14.8 million viewers). In addition, the game drew more viewers than any NBA Final since 2017, Masters Final Round since 2001, and World Series Game since Game 7 in 2019.
For the past few years, the Caitlin Clark effect has taken the world by storm. The recent college graduate is a household name and a catalyst for record viewership of women’s basketball. Around two and a half million people watched the WNBA Draft where Clark was drafted by the Indiana Fever. This was the most watched WNBA draft ever, with the previous record being in 2004 (when Diana Taurasi was drafted) with only 600,000 viewers.
Despite these important advancements, women’s sports will continue to develop and draw more viewers. Caitlin Clark, despite being the outstanding player she is, signed a rookie deal with the Fever worth a mere 84,000 dollars a year. In contrast, the minimum NBA salary is north of one million dollars.
In addition, the WNBA’s size makes it difficult for new players to enter the league. With only twelve teams, players who get drafted (even early in the draft) are not automatically guaranteed a spot on the roster and are often cut before the season begins.
With more media representation, women athletes continue to inspire younger fans who feel like they too can close the gap between women’s and men’s sports.