Can wrestling learn from WBB

[MIZ-DPT]

Woman's basketball is tough to compare because the sport itself is so much more accessible and in the general population than wrestling is/will be anytime soon. Caitlin Clark has clearly had a massive affect on it, but WBB has had consistent viewership growth for the past few years. The sport has a lot of similar things going for it compared to wrestling, big stars, good rivalries, athletes who stick around for their full eligibility. However, it goes back to basketball being a very relatable sport for the most casual of sports fans. I don't think that wrestling comparing itself to women's basketball and Caitlin Clark gives any groundbreaking concepts for wrestling to learn from. 

IMO a much more reasonable sport to look at is the growth of collegiate volleyball. Olympic typically non revenue and more niche sport akin to wrestling that has been breaking viewership and attendance records in recent years. I think that growth in viewership starts at a youth level, and with the numbers on girls wrestling ever increasing, that could be a whole new group plus families to start watching college wrestling as a whole as opposed to the idea of trying to turn casual sports fans into wrestling fans. Not to mention if you're talking about concepts like storylines, increased promotion of women's wrestling adds in so many more names and schools to bring people in and build tension as well. 

[alex1fly]

I didn't watch the NCAA tournament this year. After Big 12s this year I realized that tournaments suck to watch. I mean yeah it's cool to have the multiview and see a bunch of matches at the same time, but if you're following a team or athlete at all then it's primarily a waiting game. But you still have to check websites and apps and whatnot every half hour to know what's coming. It's annoying to do this for a one day tournament, much less a two day tournament, much less a three day tournament. It's dumb. Dual championships would surely have higher viewership because it's a set time/length, would happen at times that most people can watch, so much easier to consume for fans and casuals.

[WildTurk]

34 minutes ago, alex1fly said:

I didn't watch the NCAA tournament this year. After Big 12s this year I realized that tournaments suck to watch. 

This is where i stopped reading your post. 

[Scouts Honor]

i dont think it was clark.

i dont think it was reese.

I think it was the drama between those two. and all the trash talk among them and around others... 

and all the.. omg .. after i trash talked someone... look what they did...

 

[Scouts Honor]

i mean clark is a weird thing..

how many coaches would bench her.

she just wildly throws up shots.

how she makes them we haven't a clue and neither does she...

but ..somehow she gets more in than not.

[jchapman]

16 minutes ago, Scouts Honor said:

i mean clark is a weird thing..

how many coaches would bench her.

she just wildly throws up shots.

how she makes them we haven't a clue and neither does she...

but ..somehow she gets more in than not.

She shot 37.7% from 3-pt line in her career, and shot 46.2% overall for her career.  So, more did not go in than went in.

[BarSeries]

Wrestling has the same hurdles as track and field as far as making more mainstream 

[gimpeltf]

5 minutes ago, BarSeries said:

Wrestling has the same hurdles as track and field as far as making more mainstream 

I see what you did there

[MPhillips]

14 minutes ago, BarSeries said:

Wrestling has the same hurdles as track and field as far as making more mainstream 

That seems like quite a jump...

[Jim L]

42 minutes ago, BarSeries said:

Wrestling has the same hurdles as track and field as far as making more mainstream 

Definitely easier to follow T&F than wrestling as nobody has to explain the rules to who wins a race.

[ionel]

1 hour ago, MPhillips said:

That seems like quite a jump...

[billyhoyle]

5 hours ago, Jim L said:

NCAA WBB has much higher ratings than the WNBA,  for the same reason that NCAA wrestling is popular. It is familiarity and long time loyalty to your alma mater/ local university.

 

 

Except the success this year was about individual superstars/rivalries and not the teams themselves. People aren’t watching because they like the Hawkeyes. So I don’t think it holds in this case. 

[billyhoyle]

3 hours ago, MIZ-DPT said:

Woman's basketball is tough to compare because the sport itself is so much more accessible and in the general population than wrestling is/will be anytime soon. Caitlin Clark has clearly had a massive affect on it, but WBB has had consistent viewership growth for the past few years. The sport has a lot of similar things going for it compared to wrestling, big stars, good rivalries, athletes who stick around for their full eligibility. However, it goes back to basketball being a very relatable sport for the most casual of sports fans. I don't think that wrestling comparing itself to women's basketball and Caitlin Clark gives any groundbreaking concepts for wrestling to learn from. 

IMO a much more reasonable sport to look at is the growth of collegiate volleyball. Olympic typically non revenue and more niche sport akin to wrestling that has been breaking viewership and attendance records in recent years. I think that growth in viewership starts at a youth level, and with the numbers on girls wrestling ever increasing, that could be a whole new group plus families to start watching college wrestling as a whole as opposed to the idea of trying to turn casual sports fans into wrestling fans. Not to mention if you're talking about concepts like storylines, increased promotion of women's wrestling adds in so many more names and schools to bring people in and build tension as well. 

I agree there is no chance wrestling will become as popular as women’s basketball is now. But not too long ago, WBB was only maybe 2-3 times more watched than wrestling. Now 18.7 million tuned into the finals (compared to 400 to 500k for wrestling).
 

If you told me that would happen 15 years ago, I’d say you’re crazy. We are headed in the wrong direction viewership wise and nobody is doing anything about it. 

[Jason Bryant]

Definitely easier to follow T&F than wrestling as nobody has to explain the rules to who wins a race.

But how do you score team points in T&F? That sport is fractured chasing times and you have a team that could be in 3 spots on a given weekend.

[lisa morales]

Caitlin is white.  That makes it right.

[Scouts Honor]

3 hours ago, jchapman said:

She shot 37.7% from 3-pt line in her career, and shot 46.2% overall for her career.  So, more did not go in than went in.

should have said... more in than most... or whatever...

you are correct..

[Scouts Honor]

40 minutes ago, lisa morales said:

Caitlin is white.  That makes it right.

makes what right? 

[lisa morales]

It's why ratings were so high.  Caitlin is white, well spoken, straight and is tattoo free.  Unlike the WNBA which is 90% gay, mostly black and everyone is covered in Tats.

Edited April 8 by lisa morales

[Scouts Honor]

and so... that made people watch? maybe.

i really think it was the storyline from last year... the trash talking etc...that carried over into this Final four

it wasn't very well watched last year was it? 

[WildTurk]

3 hours ago, Scouts Honor said:

i dont think it was clark.

i dont think it was reese.

I think it was the drama between those two. and all the trash talk among them and around others... 

and all the.. omg .. after i trash talked someone... look what they did...

 

Clark never trashed Reece one time

[Scouts Honor]

i was under the impression that the whole hand in the face thing last year was from clark.

[WildTurk]

20 minutes ago, Scouts Honor said:

i was under the impression that the whole hand in the face thing last year was from clark.

Do your research.  It's all there

[Scouts Honor]

clark was doing it during the game. stupid.

reese did it to her after the game... also stupid.

whats to research?

[Interviewed_at_Weehawken]

3 hours ago, Jim L said:

Definitely easier to follow T&F than wrestling as nobody has to explain the rules to who wins a race.

My son won his state quarters, scoring two sets of nearfall in the third period to get the win.  30 minutes later, I see my father in law moping around talking about how "he could have had him." It took me a couple of minutes to realize that grandpa had no clue that the  boy had won by 3!  He thought he had lost because he didn't get the fall.

[de4856]

Well I think College Westling has to be more like Freestyle. Adopt the out/push out and 30 second clock. I think that might be more appealing to the casual fan.