OAKLAND — Excitement about women's sports continues to grow.
More than 12 million people tuned in Monday afternoon to watch the women's college basketball Elite Eight game between LSU and Iowa. That energy continues into Final Four weekend.
Even though the Bay Area team didn't make it to the Final Four, the sports bar at Athletic Club Oakland was packed with fans.
Laura Alvarez said she came to the bar to “enjoy the atmosphere and support women's basketball.”
Now, to watch the best basketball players in the NCAA compete, fans have begun arriving early to secure their seats. And those players are women.
“Caitlin Clark is obviously in on that game. She's the name people hear the most, right?” Marcia Ashibi said. “Paige Backers is also in that game. I'm very excited.”
Clark scored the most points of any NCAA basketball player in his career. That includes both women and men. With the emergence of female stars, attention to sports is increasing.
“This shows that women's sports can have just as many fans as men's sports,” Alvarez said. “We have performed well and there is a lot to learn from women's sports and women's players, and they deserve recognition.”
Alvarez has always followed women's sports, growing up playing both basketball and soccer, but never considered it a potential career path because women's sports didn't receive as much attention as men. There wasn't, he said. If she had grown up now, she says things might have been different.
“I think maybe I could have thought about it a little more seriously and actually dreamed bigger sports-wise and continued to do that,” Alvarez said.
Ashibi says it's long past time for women's sports to receive this level of attention, and she hopes the results will lead to longer-term change.
“A few years ago, there was a comparison between the men's athletic facilities and the women's athletic facilities, and that got a lot of attention,” Asibi said. “I think that's a really good way of putting it, because it's not that they're trying less, they just don't have the resources. They don't have people who are as invested in them. I think it's important to continue to provide that opportunity to women who don't have that opportunity.'' It's not just about helping them, it's about helping everyone. ”
ESPN's parent company Disney said average game viewership for the women's NCAA Tournament was up 127 percent from last year's tournament.
Alvarez says he believes this momentum will continue.
“This shows that people are getting involved in women's sports,” she says.
The women's NCAA Championship game will be played on Sunday.
