When Jessica Pearce played basketball for NC State in the early 2000s, she couldn’t have known she’d bring her own young daughter back to see an NCAA Tournament second-round game at her alma mater over twenty years later. What a proud full circle moment.
Her daughter Audrey, who does gymnastics, said “it was cool” the first time she saw basketball live, but now “it’s even better since it’s girls.”
Men’s sports are fantastic. But seeing someone like her playing a game she loves shows a girl what’s possible, for that sport and beyond.
Audrey is not alone. A rising 34% of girls play sports regularly (compared to 40% but declining for boys). The number of teen girls participating in sports recently hit its highest level since 2013. The long-time gender gap is finally starting to close.
Women’s basketball is having a moment.
You could argue that it started last year with the rise of Iowa’s Caitlin Clark. But the momentum we see right now in women’s basketball began years before Clark started impressing us with her three-point shots and well-known assists.
No question the popularity of players like Clark and Angel Reese boosts the women’s basketball movement. But so did top-notch players like Lynette Woodard, Rebecca Lobo, Sheryl Swopes, Lisa Leslie, Breanna Stewart, Brittney Griner, and many others over the years.
The success of the current players is only possible because of the efforts of those who came before them to pave the way, breaking down barriers one at a time.
Progress can be painstakingly slow. It often comes in fits and starts. But it’s worth it.
The enormous hype right now surrounding women’s basketball is well-deserved and long overdue. Just look at what those trail blazers set the stage for.
- More money: The 2024 women’s NCAA national championship game surpassed the men’s final for the first time in numbers of viewers and ticket sales. As a result, the average price for an ad in this year’s women’s final game broadcast more than doubled. Teams in the women’s March Madness bracket are now paid for playing in the tournament, something that’s never happened before.
- More to watch: For the 2024-25 season, broadcasts of women’s basketball games on major television networks rose up dramatically, with some even securing prime-time Saturday night slots. Stars players like Paige Bueckers of UConn and others carry the baton forward now.
- Sharing the wealth: The fever pitch isn’t limited to women’s basketball. Other women’s sports like hockey, gymnastics, volleyball and soccer are surging as well. Revenues from women’s sports are projected to hit $2.35 BILLION dollars in 2025, a 25% increase over last year’s record $1.88B. Basketball is a big part of this number. It’s even predicted to pass soccer as the top-earning women’s sport this year. National brands now compete to sponsor well-known players and support the WNBA league. Money talks.
- A cultural perk: The number of sports bars committed to showing women’s sports on their screens increased from the lone Sports Bra in Portland, Oregon in 2022 to more than a half dozen similar bars today in Phoenix, San Francisco, Cleveland and elsewhere across the country. That number will grow to at least a dozen by the end of 2025.
The business of women’s sports is booming.
Whether in basketball or in life, when given the chance, women will rise. And then reach back to extend a hand to those who come behind them, which helps us all.
As we round out this Women’s History Month, we acknowledge the women whose contributions to sports and countless other areas have shaped our families, our communities and our world. In meaningful ways large and small, they enrich every one of our lives. We are grateful. We simply would not be where we are without them.
We encourage you to share this story with the women who mean the most to you. Tell them what a difference they make in your life and what an impact you see them having on the world.
The giants whose shoulders we stand on rarely do what they do for glory, but they deserve our acknowledgement and recognition!
