CLEVELAND — Iowa women’s basketball fans are expected to invade Cleveland this weekend for the Final Four.
Iowa will face UConn on Friday in the national semifinals at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse. According to Vivid Seats’ Fan Forecast, proprietary data that projects crowd outcomes, Friday’s crowd is projected to be 44 percent Iowa fans, 16 percent UConn fans, 32 percent South Carolina fans, and eight percent North Carolina State fans.
On average, fans are traveling 360-plus miles to see the Hawkeyes take on the Huskies — and the rematch between Caitlin Clark and Paige Bueckers. South Carolina and North Carolina State will play the first Final Four game on Friday beginning at 6 p.m. CDT.
According to Vivid Seats’ data, site traffic to the NCAA Women’s Final Four page spiked 160 percent on April 1 after Iowa defeated defending national champion LSU to advance to its second straight Final Four. The average ticket price for the NCAA Women’s Final Four shot up 19 percent overnight.
It was also a Hawkeye-heavy crowd for the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight in Albany, New York. Vivid Seats projected Iowa fans to take up 64 percent of the crowd during the Elite Eight versus LSU. From The Daily Iowan’s seats courtside, the crowd looked more like 85 percent Hawk fans, who broke out in “Let’s go Hawks” chants throughout the game and lined up near the Iowa tunnel hours before tipoff vying for autographs and high-fives.
Hottest Women’s Final Four tickets since 2014, per Vivid Seats
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NCAA Women’s Final Four (South Carolina vs. NC State, Iowa vs. UConn) April 5 4/5/24 – $360
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NCAA Women’s Final Four (LSU vs. Virginia Tech, South Carolina vs. Iowa) March 31, 2023 – $280
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NCAA Women’s Final Four (South Carolina vs. Louisville, Stanford vs. UConn) April 1, 2022 – $176
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NCAA Women’s Final Four (Louisville vs. Mississippi State, UConn vs. Notre Dame) March 30, 2018 – $160
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NCAA Women’s Final Four (Notre Dame vs. South Carolina, UConn vs. Maryland) April 5, 2015 – $145
