Gray Decision Intelligence’s Post

🔮 Predicting the Future of Women's NCAA Basketball 🏀 1. With Iowa's historic win over LSU in the Elite Eight drawing a record-breaking 12.3 million viewers, it's evident that interest in women's college basketball is on the rise. 2. The impressive performance by Clark with 41 points, seven rebounds, and 12 assists showcases the exceptional talent and abilities of women athletes in the sport. 3. The game's peak viewership at 16.1 million signals a growing audience engagement with women's NCAA basketball, setting the stage for potential growth and recognition of the sport on a larger scale. 4. The record-breaking viewership for this game on ESPN exemplifies the increasing popularity and significance of women's sports on mainstream platforms. 5. As the momentum for women's NCAA basketball continues to build, we can anticipate greater visibility, investment, and support for women athletes in college sports across the country. 6. This historic moment in women's college basketball history not only celebrates athletic achievement but also paves the way for a more inclusive and equitable future for all athletes. Join me in championing women's sports and celebrating the fantastic accomplishments of these talented athletes! Let's continue to support and uplift women in sports for a brighter and more inclusive future. 🌟🏀 #WomensBasketball #NCAATournament #SportsEquality

Who would I be without sports? How would I be without sports? I ask these questions as a personal exercise; an attempt to quantify the impact that playing sports had on the course of my life, my career, my community, and personhood. Who would I be without the know-how to pick and roll, box out, give and go, rebound, get the 50/50 ball? How would I be without understanding the pressure to win, having the chance to come from behind, taking the opportunity to beat the buzzer? These are sportsy words and terms that I learned, practiced, and utilized as a basketball and lacrosse player. And, they are concepts that continue to inform my efforts in business, particularly when founding Brave Enterprises and especially now as we build The Post. As we all celebrate National Girls + Women in Sports Day, and do all we can to get as many girls to start (and to keep playing) sports as possible, I challenge you to think of who and how you are because of sports.

Capturing the momentum of NCAA women's college basketball, Howard University Athletics secured a significant Name, Image, Likeness("NIL") contract for its women's basketball athletes this summer. This partnership aims to attract high school girls to join the forward-thinking HBCU. #womeninsports #journalism #publicrelations #advertisingandmarketing #creativeadvertising #contentmarketing #diversity Link to article:

I cried reading this article. Cried thinking of all the amazing women’s basketball I’ve been able to watch since March Madness started. Cried thinking of these amazing viewership numbers. Cried thinking of my two daughters and their growing love of basketball. But I also cried for all the moments that lead up to this. Cried thinking of all the amazing women’s games that were missed, all the storylines we never heard of, all the female athletes that didn’t get to have their big moments play out on national platforms. Cried for all the female athletes who were treated like they were less than. “The lack of resources devoted to the women’s game wasn’t an inevitable consequence of the game’s popularity—it was a choice. And that, in turn, suggested that it was possible to make a different choice: that, if the women’s game were treated with the same level of promotion and investment and hype as the men’s game, people would watch it, too.” The growth in women’s sports we are seeing now is what we should have been seeing all along. And while it is an amazing turn of events, there is still so much work to be done for all of women’s sports. I cannot wait to watch South Carolina and Iowa play in National Championship today. I will be watching in my living room with my whole family. It is must watch TV and I will be taking it all in while my daughters get to watch their favorite players play on National TV. After the game, I will get back to work. I will remember what it took to get here and that we still need more people to support and invest in women and girls’ sports at all levels. I will continue to coach, volunteer and advocate for my local sports organizations. It’s truly the best to watch young athletes develop their love for sports, but we need people to volunteer and create safe and fun spaces for that to happen. What are you actively doing to support women and girls sports in your own community? #womeninsports #girlsinsports #womenssports #youthsports #coaching #advocacy #marchmadness #ncaa #womensbasketball https://lnkd.in/gBjKdjev

The Final Four match-up between Iowa and UConn drew 17 MILLION viewers at its peak - making it the most-watched basketball game EVER on ESPN, and the most-viewed college event in history on ESPN+ (1). And yet, despite the women’s tournament eclipsing (pun intended, happy April 8th) viewership records across the board, women’s teams won’t earn ANY financial compensation. The NCAA gives a portion of its revenue - called “units” - to conferences based on the success of their schools in the men's tournament. Units are awarded for each game a school plays, except for the National Championship. This year, each of the 132 available units is worth about $2 million (2). So, while the men’s performances have guaranteed the Big 10 conference $12 million as of the 2023 tournament (2), the women’s team at Iowa - the record-breaking team with arguably one of the biggest names in sports today - will receive nothing. Though the NCAA is “discussing” unit distribution in women’s basketball for next season (3), they’re preventing teams from earning the (well-deserved) $170 million generated by the 2024 tournament. As USC coach Dawn Staley notes, that kind of money would "move your campus in a different direction [for] women.” (4). Women in sports deserve that investment - not just as a reward for current successes, but to further elevate their future. Sources: 1. https://lnkd.in/gJF6EwvW 2. https://lnkd.in/gescRAty 3. https://lnkd.in/gQssUP-h 4. https://lnkd.in/gwKpZbXJ #collegebasketball #marchmadness #ncaa #womeninsports

I just read a fantastic article from the The New Yorker on women's basketball and the historical disparity in equity and approach between the Men's college game and the women's. For full disclosure, as a new resident of #Iowa I am a fully paid up, #22 T-shirt wearing member of the Caitlin Clark fan club. However, the quote in this article that really stood out to me was this, after the 2021 gender-equity review by the #NCAA "That review suggested what we now know is true: the logic that was read into ratings was backward. Television viewership actually reflected, in part, inequalities in promotion and internal attention given to the men’s and women’s tournaments, not their inherent values. The lack of resources devoted to the women’s game wasn’t an inevitable consequence of the game’s popularity—it was a choice. And that, in turn, suggested that it was possible to make a different choice: that, if the women’s game were treated with the same level of promotion and investment and hype as the men’s game, people would watch it, too." It strikes me that this has real application in business and the workplace too. If women in the workplace were treated with the same level of investment, hype, and value as men are, then women would rise to the top just as fast as men, and be just as successful. #gohawks #hawkeyes #genderequality #equity #womenleaders https://lnkd.in/gYaGj7sx

Caitlin Clark. Alex Morgan. Coco Gauff. Katie Ledecky. Simone Biles. Michelle Kwan. Mary Lou Retton. Jackie Joyner Kersee. Billie Jean King. Household names of icons for many of us. But for many others, they were chalked up to ‘just’ the names of great female athletes that “no one is watching on TV.” Emphasis on the preface: female. Today, those same women are the pioneers who’ve changed the face of women’s sports and introduced an opportunity for future generations of young girls (and boys!) to find their moment. We know they didn’t have it easy – at times the world may as well have been rooting against them. They were doubted. Judged. Passed on and left out. Told they were too much and yet also not enough. Told no. But they persisted, and persisted, and persisted. And now decades of hard work later, they’ve fostered a space that celebrates inclusivity, diversity, and equal opportunity for players and fans alike. Watching women’s sports has become our remedy – our moment of joy and reflection on how things should have always been. This Moment of Lonely is anything but momentary. The universal excitement and embrace for women’s sports has arrived; but also, it’s here to stay. Reinforced by these mind-numbing stats from the past year: • The Big Ten and S.E.C. women’s conference basketball tournaments selling out. 👏 • Nebraska women’s volleyball match setting a world record with 92,000 spectators. 🤯 • The debut of the Professional Women’s Hockey League. 🥅 • 30% growth in applications to the University of Iowa despite declining college enrollment nationwide. 📈 • Television ratings record of 12.6 million viewers for the 2023 women’s college basketball final between LSU and Iowa. 🤝 • Deloitte predicts that women’s sports will surpass $1 billion in revenue for the first time ever in 2024. 💯 Sometimes a moment is a movement, and if you love women’s sports, that moment has arrived. #MomentOfLonely #WomensSports #Inspiration

New Post: Who Are The Top Ten NCAA Women Basketball Players of All Time? – Book - https://lnkd.in/dbk9_VH5 - To thoroughly explore the top ten NCAA women players of all time, we'll delve into the careers, achievements, impact, and legacies of these remarkable athletes. From dominant centers to versatile guards, these players have left an indelible mark on women's college basketball history. Here's an in-depth examination. Click the link below to get the book. https://amzn.to/3MWOm6U

🌟 Fresh Week 11 - Top 25 Women's Basketball rankings for Attendance and AP Rankings. 🏆 Winning can be a tailwind for building a fan base but not a guarantee. 💓 Unranked teams can build fan bases by building 360-degree events for new fans to enjoy. We're in the entertainment and memory making business. Key Takeaways: 9️⃣ teams rank Top 25 Attendance but not in AP: Tennessee Arizona Maryland Purdue Nebraska Texas Tech Oregon Mississippi State New Mexico 9️⃣ teams rank Top 25 AP but not in Attendance (attendance ranking): Colorado (30) USC (42) Kansas State (38) Stanford (47) Florida State (74) Creighton (104) Marquette (99) North Carolina (45) UNLV (127) #sportsbiz #insights #sportsmarketing #womenssports

New Post: Who Are The Top Ten NCAA Women Basketball Players of All Time? – Book - https://lnkd.in/dVCk9sre - To thoroughly explore the top ten NCAA women players of all time, we'll delve into the careers, achievements, impact, and legacies of these remarkable athletes. From dominant centers to versatile guards, these players have left an indelible mark on women's college basketball history. Here's an in-depth examination. Click the link below to get the book. https://amzn.to/3MWOm6U