COLUMBIA — South Carolina women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley believes women’s college basketball and the WNBA are more popular than ever right now.
Staley wants to take advantage of the attention to productively move women’s basketball forward.
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“I think we’re at our most popular state,” Staley said on May 29 when asked what she sees for the future of women’s sports during an event for new book. “We’re in high demand. I do feel like we need to capitalize right now.”
Staley held the event in Columbia to celebrate her book “Uncommon Favor: Basketball, North Philly, My Mother and Life Lessons I learned from All Three,” which released May 20.
The question came just days after she returned from Florida for SEC meetings, which is an annual series of meetings for coaches in the conference. Staley joked that in settings like those, she may sound crazy when she talks about capitalizing on women’s sports and growing the industry.
Staley asked the crowd at the event what should happen next, to which a few replied “more money.” Staley confirmed that was the correct answer.
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“We should get more money from ESPN,” Staley said. “We’re in a television deal. When we signed the deal three or four years ago, we weren’t where we are today. Let’s go back to the table and let’s talk about where we are today. Let’s negotiate in good faith.”
NCAA women’s basketball does not have its own TV deal with ESPN, but in January 2024, the NCAA and ESPN reached an eight-year agreement for NCAA championships media rights. The new deal began Sept. 1, 2024 and included domestic rights to 40 NCAA championships (21 women’s events).
During the 2024-25 season, ESPN reported more than 220 games aired on ESPN platforms including ABC, ESPN2, ESPNU, SEC Network and ACC Network in addition to just over 3,400 on ESPN’s affiliated platforms like ESPN+ and SEC Network+.
This past season was the most-watched regular season on ESPN platforms since 2008-09 according to the company. Viewership finished 3% above the 2023-24 regular season, and 41% more than the 2022-23 season. An average 280,000 viewers watched women’s basketball via ESPN this season. March Madness viewership alone averaged 1.2 million viewers which was a 22% increase from 2023.
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“I want ESPN to step up to the plate,” Staley said. “Give us a little bit more from collegiately to the WNBA.”
For the 11th consecutive season, the Gamecocks have led the nation in attendance. In 2024-25, South Carolina averaged 16,437 fans per home game. Staley said when she arrived 17 years ago she candidly admitted she didn’t envision selling out arenas.
“You can’t tell me that when we have a sell out crowd that the concession stands aren’t making money, right?” Staley said. “You can’t tell me that businesses, restaurants, hotels, aren’t making money off of women’s basketball. So when you say women’s basketball isn’t a revenue-producing sport, you got to take an account for all of it.”
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Lulu Kesin covers South Carolina athletics for The Greenville News and the USA TODAY Network. Email her at lkesin@gannett.com and follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter, @Lulukesin
This article originally appeared on Greenville News: Why Dawn Staley said ESPN plays major role in future of women’s sports
