(Podcast length 5 mins)
From colorful characters to colorful hair, on-court performance aside, here’s why the Final Four is worth watching.
Transcript
1. The NCAA may have undervalued Women’s March Madness in the past, but sponsors did not. Companies like Adidas, Apple and Target have bought up airtime during this year’s women’s tourney, selling out ad inventory. This is the first year that the NCAA has guaranteed that the women’s teams will get the same perks as the men. Such extras include tournament gifts and access to a family lounge at their hotels to have a private place to visit with their families and not in the hotel lobby. RAISE THE BAR
2. The men’s tournament has a massive eight-year TV deal with CBS and Turner, worth $8.8 billion. The Kaplan report found that the women’s tournament would likely fetch annual rights payments between $81 million- $112 million. With sold-out commercial time and increased viewer numbers, you’d think this would be a no-brainer, but they’ve never had a chance to try. Why? Women’s March Madness is part of a package with 28 other college championships like wrestling and gymnastics. (ESPN currently pays $34 million a year for that championship package, which runs until 2024). ENOUGH FOR EVERYONE
3. UConn’s Paige Bueckers, probably the most recognized player in either of the tournaments, is coming home to her home state of Minnesota as Minneapolis is hosting the women’s Final Four and championship game. Also in Minneapolis are defending champions Stanford (No. 1), Louisville (No. 1) and South Carolina (No. 1). UConn (No. 2) is the lowest-seeded team to play in the Final Four, the school’s 14th straight appearance. There is so much talent on the floor, but one who stands out, thanks to her always colorful hair, is South Carolina’s Aliyah Boston. Boston has colored her hair every color of the rainbow, including rainbow. She couldn’t decide, so she had her hairstylist pick out her recent two colors. HOW IT’S DONE
4. The men’s Final Four in New Orleans comes down to four blue-blooded teams. (Remember when we told you to pick teams with the color blue as their primary uniform color)? Dominating the talk around the Men’s Final Four is Coach K – Mike Krzyzewski - Duke’s 75-year-old head coach who is coaching in his last March Madness. If you like cheering for an underdog, Villanova (No. 2) and Kansas (No. 1) “only” have three national championship titles each. In contrast, Duke (No. 2) has five under its belt, and North Carolina (No. 8) has six championships. Last year’s champion, Baylor, lost earlier in the tournament to North Carolina. UP YOUR GAME
5. Making it to this level of the tournament is a big deal for the teams, but in the case of South Carolina’s women’s head coach Dawn Staley, there was a $200,000 bonus on the line for making it to the Final Four. Salaries for women’s head coaches have been on the uptick in college, with Staley earning $900,000 more a year than the former player and first-year head coach of the North Carolina men’s team Hubert Davis. GAME ON
PS: If you need more about March Madness, check out our Guide to March Madness for the background on the tournament and more of what you need to know.
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