(05-11-2022 08:58 AM)MattBrownEP Wrote:  

(05-11-2022 07:15 AM)zibby Wrote:  

(05-11-2022 07:14 AM)MattBrownEP Wrote:  

(05-11-2022 07:09 AM)zibby Wrote:  I thought I read somewhere that the reason is because nobody would televise the women's tournament if ESPN were televising the men's tournament.

well that's unquestionably not true

FWIW, the CBS contract is through 2032. Not much ESPN (or anybody else) can do about that

Who would televise the women's tournament if ESPN didn't?

Almost anybody? CBS, Fox, NBC, Turner, streaming options, shoot, maybe even Lifetime. Ratings for the event have exploded over the last two years, and even the NCAA's official report admitted that it is priced dramatically below value.

https://frontofficesports.com/womens-mar...ce%202004.

https://kaplanhecker.app.box.com/s/qz5v7...sdo3gwzdbt

I know a lot of folks here don't like women's basketball. But that doesn't mean consumers don't like women's basketball.

Even if ESPN keeps the rights to the tournament, they will almost assuredly need to pay a TON more money for it, as the NCAA is facing enormous pressure to spin off the women's tournament from the rest of their postseason rights package and sell it as a one-off.