Riled up

The GIST: 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. Net-cutting equals net gains.

The tournament: Clark’s team has reeled in viewers throughout the tournament, with Iowa responsible for three of the tourney’s most-watched games so far, starting with 3.2M in the first round and 4.9M viewers for the second. When Iowa defeated LSU in the Elite Eight on Monday, 12.3M viewers tuned in — the most for any men’s or women’s college basketball game in NCAA history.

• This level of hype is why Disney sold out its ad inventory before the first tip-off, and why 2024 ad revenue has doubled from last year. Recent data also indicates games featuring Clark are 7% more effective for advertisers than those without her.

The precedent: It’s well-documented that in sports, stars sell. In women’s sports, this has often been observed in tennis, with American stars like Serena Williams driving national viewership. Williams’ final pro tennis match peaked at 6.9M viewers, the most-watched ESPN tennis telecast in history — a fitting finale for the woman who taught brands to spend more on women athletes.

• And Coco Gauff seems poised to be the next great American tennis star after drawing 3.4M viewers in the US Open final last year (the highest viewership ever for a women’s major) and selling a record 28.1K tickets, with prices soaring 20% after Gauff made it. She also drove brand value for New Balance, which partially credited her for $6.5B in annual sales in 2023.

Zooming out: The Caitlin Clark economy — which has infused up to $82.5M into Iowa’s — continues to profoundly impact the postseason. Although official numbers aren’t out yet, record crowds and viewership will likely be followed by record revenue, and by touting the tourney’s most recognizable athlete, the sport continues to recruit new converts. Everybody watches women’s sports.

The GIST: March was a wild month for women’s sports, complete with a March Madness tournament that’s transforming women’s college basketball and an NWSL season kickoff garnering more media coverage than ever. To celebrate a Women’s History Month full of sporting wins, here are the latest Google trends in women’s sports.

🎟️ Indiana Fever tickets were the top trending topic related to the WNBA Draft, while Caitlin Clark’s official Draft declaration in February made "who has the first pick in WNBA Draft" a breakout search in the U.S.

🔎 The Iowa Hawkeyes women’s basketball team was the top-searched March Madness squad in the U.S. and the most-searched team in several states beyond Iowa, including Alaska, Hawaii, Wyoming, Maine, North Dakota, and South Dakota. Clark also topped the list of players searched with the term “March Madness,” followed by Angel Reese and JuJu Watkins.

🏀 Iowa had three of the top five most-searched women’s March Madness matchups, but the top game was LSU—UCLA. The highly-anticipated matchup drew 3.8M viewers and was at the center of a Los Angeles Times divisive (and widely deemed sexist) op-ed. Milk and cookies…really?

📺 U.S. searches asking “where to watch NWSL” reached an all-time high, likely thanks to the league’s new media rights deal. The top NWSL clubs searched in relation were the KC Current, Seattle Reign FC, the Washington Spirit, Bay FC, and Angel City FC.

✨ Expansion teams Bay FC and Utah Royals FC saw high search interest surrounding their NWSL debuts. Both squads saw an increase in interest through multiple breakout searches, including “Bay FC logo,” “NWSL expansion teams,” and “Utah Royals home opener.”

🏟️ There’s profound, widespread interest in the KC Current, which opened the doors to its innovative CPKC Stadium this season. Indexed search interest in the team maxed out on Google Trends, and while searches for other NWSL clubs primarily remained regional, the Current saw search interest in nearly every U.S. state. Making waves.

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