If any institution is aware of the demand for women’s sports, it should be the University of Iowa.
After years of barrier-breaking and record-setting history with the UI women’s basketball team — led by former guard Caitlin Clark at the helm of that change — both the university and state of Iowa know there is a demand for women’s sports.
This was made clear last year when the university saw the women’s basketball team fill Kinnick Stadium with 55,646 fans, breaking the record for attendance at any women’s basketball game.
Courtside tickets on SeatGeek for Iowa’s game against Michigan on Feb. 15 — where Clark made history, passing Kelsey Plum for the NCAA Division I women’s scoring record — were listed at $4,624.
Both attendance and viewership for women’s basketball have subsequently exploded following Clark’s rise to national fame. This attention has spilled over to the WNBA, where fans are not only watching Clark as she plays with the Indiana Fever but teams across the league.
Yet, despite this energy and willingness to support the women’s basketball team, the Athletics Department made the decision in July 2024 to sell men’s season tickets ranging from $325 to $375 — the same price as the year prior.
Women’s season tickets, however, sold for a maximum of $225 and were cheaper with renewal passes at $210 for adults. While this is an increase from the year prior, the price for women’s tickets is still considerably less than men’s season tickets.
Back in 2022, tickets to women’s basketball games for students were entirely free. That only changed after Clark and the rest of the team made their historic run to the NCAA championship game.
Jim Hall, a library assistant at the UI Art Library, has been attending women’s basketball games at the UI for decades — prior to the establishment of “season tickets” for the program.
“Since we’ve been going so long, and the support of women’s athletics is so important to me and my wife, I doubt there’s a price that they would consider going to that we would refuse to pay,” Hall wrote in an email to the DI.
The university should have started charging for women’s basketball tickets back in 1988 when the all-time attendance record was broken at Carver-Hawkeye Arena with 22,167 fans. This was well over the arena’s 15,500 person capacity, establishing Iowa as a leader in women’s sports decades ago.
In a statement to The DI from the UI Athletics Department, “fan demographics, market research, historical pricing, strength of schedule and performance,” are the varying factors that go into ticket pricing for various programs.
Looking into the 2024-25 season, it is abundantly clear that Iowa is looking at an entirely different team. With the loss of head coach Lisa Bluder and superstar Clark, as well as seasoned players Kate Martin, Gabbie Marshall, Molly Davis, and Sharon Goodman, this year’s team is particularly young.
“They’re going to look different,” UI President Barbara Wilson said in an interview with the DI.
However, despite this new team, there’s still significant energy surrounding the program. With key returners like Hannah Stuelke and Sydney Affolter, who both made substantial contributions to the team last season, and the addition of transfer Lucy Olsen, Iowa has the makings of a strong group. Former associate head coach Jan Jensen is also leading the program as head coach, giving some level of stability to the team.
The excitement for Iowa women’s basketball is still strong, hence the cost of tickets to games.
Tickets for Iowa’s game against USC — featuring second-year star JuJu Watkins — are already listed for as much as $400 on resale sites.
Nebraska, the team Iowa narrowly beat in a nail-biter of a Big Ten championship game, plays in Iowa City on Jan. 16. Resale tickets are going from $50 to nearly $200, depending on the seat.
Money is talking — why isn’t Iowa listening?
The increasing energy surrounding women’s basketball may have started with Clark, but that’s not where it stopped. For proof of this excitement, just look at the WNBA.
While it’s true that the highest-viewed games from this season featured the Indiana Fever — the team that drafted Clark as the No. 1 pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft — games featuring other teams also saw elevated viewership and attendance.
According to ESPN, the finals series featuring the New York Liberty and the Minnesota Lynx saw a 115 percent increase in viewership over last season — and neither team featured Clark nor any other Iowa alumni.
People are tuning in to watch basketball, independent of former Hawkeye Clark. They have been doing so for years. While her impact on the sport is undeniable, Clark is not the only talented player fans tune in to watch.
Now that all eyes are on women’s basketball, the cost for tickets should, at the very least, match those of the men’s team.
Anything less is a severe underestimation of the Iowa women’s basketball team.