ALBANY, N.Y. — Iowa women’s basketball fans have traveled near and far this season to watch the Hawkeyes.
Every time the Iowa women took the court in Carver-Hawkeye Arena, they were welcomed by a sold-out crowd. When Caitlin Clark and Co. went on the road, it was even more madness, with tickets going for thousands of dollars and fans lining up outside hours before tipoff.
Iowa set or broke attendance records in all but two of its regular season games, and the Big Ten Tournament sold out for the first time, mainly thanks to Hawk fans who made the trip to “Carver North.”
Will the Hawkeyes have the same favorable fan turnout when they play in New York on Saturday in the Sweet 16?
Data from Vivid Seats, an American ticket exchange and resale company, says yes.
According to Vivid Seat’s Fan Forecast, proprietary data that projects crowd outcomes, Hawkeye fans are expected to take up 54 percent of the crowd at MVP Arena during Saturday’s session featuring Iowa-Colorado and LSU-UCLA. Colorado fans are projected to represent two percent of the crowd.
Tiger fans are expected to take up 36 percent of the crowd, while eight percent of fans are projected to represent the Bruins. Based on listed prices, the demand for Iowa’s upcoming matchup against Colorado has increased 23 percent since the beginning of the NCAA Tournament on March 20.
Sweet 16 average ticket prices, per Vivid Seats
- Session 2 (Colorado vs. Iowa, LSU vs. UCLA) – $177
- Session 1 (South Carolina vs. Indiana, Oregon State vs. Notre Dame) – $95
- Session 2 (Duke vs. UConn, Baylor vs. USC) – $91
- Session 1 (Texas vs. Gonzaga, Stanford vs. North Carolina State) – $77
Veterans in the starting lineup like Clark, Kate Martin, and Gabbie Marshall remember playing in front of cardboard cutouts during COVID-19. Now, each Iowa game is a must-see attraction, and those who hadn’t previously given women’s basketball a chance are tuning in.
Iowa’s game against Holy Cross in the first round of the NCAA Tournament registered 3.2 million viewers on ABC, making it the most-viewed non-Final Four women’s tournament game ever. That record didn’t last long, as two days later, 4.9 million people tuned into ESPN to see Iowa’s 64-54 victory over West Virginia.
The previous record was 2.5 million viewers set during Iowa’s Elite Eight win over Louisville last year.
“I think [Hawkeye fans] can feel that we truly appreciate them, and we truly need them,” Clark said, per the Des Moines Register. “Sure, we’ve made a lot of baskets, we’ve won a lot of games, but we’ve had fun doing it.”
On Wednesday, Clark posted on Instagram and wished her “favorite arena” goodbye. She ended the caption with, “See you in Albany Hawk fans.”
“I’m very grateful that I got to play in an environment that supports women’s athletics the way that [Iowa fans] do, not only women’s basketball. And to be honest, they’ve been doing this before I ever stepped on campus,” Clark said after playing in the Round of 32 against West Virginia, her final game in Carver-Hawkeye Arena. “Maybe it wasn’t quite at the magnitude it is now, but these people and these fans have showed up, and they’ll continue to show up.”
