The National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) Division One (D1) women’s college basketball has seen a large growth in attention over the past few years. There are more eyes on the sport now than ever before as viewership and attendance numbers have hit all-time highs, and with that, the public perception of the game has shifted.

The 2023 NCAA National Basketball Championship, which saw Louisiana State University defeat The University of Iowa, garnered 9.9 million viewers on ESPN, making it not only the most viewed women’s college basketball game on the network, but the most for either men or women. This was up 104% from the previous year, and it’s easy to understand why.

Iowa superstar Caitlin Clark, who is known for her prolific three-point shooting and high-paced offensive game, faced off against LSU’s Angel Reese, whose old-school style offense was a great contrast to Clark. This created a high intensity matchup that resulted in some trash talking when Reese pointed to her ring finger in front of Clark to indicate that LSU was about to become champions.

The advent of superstar players such as Clark and Reese has allowed the women’s game to become more marketable. While there has always been talent at the women’s level, it seems now that every college program has that one player who is a box office show. Paige Bueckers for the University of Connecticut (UConn) and Juju Watkins for the University of California are just a few others that have gained a large amount of media attention.

Kali Cajala, a sophomore computer science major who plays forward on the women’s basketball team at Chapman, spoke with The Panther about how the perception of the sport has changed throughout her life.

The idea that the sport is being taken more seriously is backed up by viewership data from the current 2023-24 D1 season. According to SportsPro Media, ESPN had its highest viewership across the regular season this year as average viewerships on live broadcasts on ESPN and ABC hit 476,000 viewers per game. The Fox Sports network saw even higher numbers for the women’s game, according to an article by The Athletic.

“Per Michael Mulvihill, the president of insight and analytics at Fox Sports, women’s basketball games on Fox had averaged 981,000 viewers as of March 5, compared with 946,000 viewers for the men,” the article stated.

The jump in popularity is also illustrated by in-person attendance to games. The 2024 NCAA Women’s tournament had its highest-ever attendance for the first two rounds, according to the NCAA. 292,456 fans in total attended the 48 first and second round games of the tournament, breaking last year’s record of 231,677 fans.

More eyes on the game has helped to shift what was a previously negative narrative around women basketball players online. Comments on social media platforms like Instagram and Twitter, talk more about the game on the court and what happened rather than focusing on sexist notions.

This growth has allowed the game to emerge from under the shadow of the men’s side, and Cajala said that she wants women athletes to stop being compared to men.

“My hope is that media coverage continues to increase at both collegiate and professional levels and that more and more female athletes get highlighted with their accolades and performance,” Cajala said. “I would hope that the progress of women’s sports isn’t diminished by the constant comparison to the men’s side.”

Yes, women’s college basketball has had a large boom recently, but so have women’s sports in general. More and more people are taking female athletes seriously and female athletes are only getting better. Trinity Barretto, a sophomore psychology major who plays guard on Chapman’s women’s basketball team, elaborated on this idea.

“There has also been an increase in media coverage of female athletes, and this exposure has helped to showcase these women, their skills, athleticism and competitiveness,” Barretto said. “As a result of these developments, women's basketball and sports in general are perceived in a more positive and inclusive way, challenging traditional stereotypes and fostering greater respect for female athletes' talents and dedication.”

In 2023, the National Women’s Soccer League saw a 26% attendance increase from 2022. The league also had a record attendance of 34,000 was set when superstar Megan Rapinoe, a two-time World Cup winner and 2019 World Cup player of the tournament, played her final home game. 

The Professional Women’s Hockey League set a record for attendance to a women’s hockey game when 19,285 fans went to see Toronto beat Montreal on Feb. 16 of this year. The 2023 finals for the Women’s National Basketball Association had its largest average viewership ever with 728,000 viewers per game, according to SportsPro Media.

With women’s basketball leading the boom in the popularity for female athletes and teams, women athletes aren’t being viewed as lesser than male athletes anymore. Women’s sports are being treated with the respect it deserves for the talent and entertainment on display.