The most watched college basketball game in the history of ESPN was the LSU-Iowa game with a reported audience of 12.3 million. The rematch of last year's final with a berth into the final four on the line. The interest in the women's game is at an all time high, which is a positive for the NCAA.
The women's tournament has more storylines than the men's, who are more impacted to one and done collegiate careers than the women. So the rematch between two dynamic stars was a real possibility.
For a longtime, women's sports are generally regarded as less entertaining. Therefore, the interest for investments and advertising are much lower than what you see on men's side of the same sport.
The storylines and matchups can have a trailblazing effect if rivalries like Caitlyn Clark and Angel Reese continue with the same high level intensity in the WNBA as it has been in the NCAAW Tournament.
The only sport that broadly enjoyed equal value in the minds of many fans was probably tennis, as the matches are viewed as equally competitive and challenging. The fields for both men and women are competitive.
Even in soccer, the United States Women's team is more successful than the Men's, but men's soccer is generally more competitive considering the strength of global soccer leagues and the women's leagues are still in development.
The same argument applied to the WNBA. But, the more games I watched recently, the disparity between the two version is disappearing as the competitiveness and quality is improving. The game is involving and there are many similarities to the men's game. Progress is being made.
Now, they will have two stars. One viewed as the hero and the other as a villain. Fairly or unfairly. This should continue to help with ratings and build on the talent and storylines already there.
Next, more games with great storylines. And an underrated undefeated team. As underrated as any undefeated team can be. Looking forward to the action.