Big Ten women’s basketball tournament sells out for first time in history

Jan 21, 2024; Columbus, Ohio, USA; Iowa Hawkeyes guard Caitlin Clark (22) shoots a free throw over the Big Ten Conference logo during the NCAA women’s basketball game against the Ohio State Buckeyes at Value City Arena. Ohio State won 100-92.
By Scott Dochterman
Feb 23, 2024

The Big Ten’s record-breaking women’s basketball television ratings have translated to a new attendance record for next month’s Big Ten tournament.

Two weeks before the league’s top teams compete at Minneapolis’ Target Center, every session has sold out for the first time, the conference announced Friday. Big Ten officials estimate more than 109,000 fans will attend the seven sessions and shatter the league’s total attendance record of 47,923, which was set last year in Minneapolis.

Call it the Caitlin Clark Effect. The Iowa senior guard, who broke the women’s NCAA career scoring mark last week, has helped the Hawkeyes sell out and/or set attendance records at 30 of 32 arenas this year. Iowa became the first Big Ten women’s program to sell out its entire season and played before only two crowds at an exempt tournament in Florida that were not at full capacity.

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With the Hawkeyes’ proximity to Minneapolis, fans flocked north last year to see Iowa win the league championship. That seems to be the case this year, too, only with tickets sold well in advance. Plus, Ohio State and Indiana boast top-15 squads, and there’s nearby Nebraska competing for an NCAA Tournament berth.

The popularity also translates to television. The Iowa-Ohio State game that aired Jan. 21 on NBC featured the most viewers for a regular-season women’s basketball game (1.93 million) since 2010. Iowa’s home game versus Penn State on Feb. 8 also produced the most-watched women’s athletic event in Big Ten history at 657,000 viewers.

CBS also will air the tournament semifinals and finals as it does for the Big Ten men’s basketball tournament. The championship tips off at noon ET on March 10. The Big Ten’s four lowest-seeded teams begin play on March 6.

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(Photo: Adam Cairns / Columbus Dispatch / USA Today)

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Scott Dochterman

Scott Dochterman is a staff writer for The Athletic covering the Iowa Hawkeyes. He previously covered Iowa athletics for the Cedar Rapids Gazette and Land of 10. Scott also worked as an adjunct professor teaching sports journalism at the University of Iowa.