ESPN Read to Rock ’n’ Roll Heading To Cleveland For Women’s March Madness
Sunday, March 17, 2024 at 07:20PM By Barry Janoff
March 17, 2024: If you’re ready for some intense and uber-competitive March Madness, look no farther than Angel Reese, Caitlin Clark, Cameron Brink, Paige Bueckers, JuJu Watkins, Hannah Hildalgo and Aaliyah Edwards, who all want to dance in the Women’s Final Four in Cleveland, also home to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
For the 29th year, ESPN returns as the exclusive destination for the NCAA Div. I Women’s Basketball Tournament.
ESPN and its platforms will have all 67 games, beginning March 20, with the First Four.
March Madness women’s basketball on ESPN platforms is presented by Capital One, with games available across ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU and ESPNews.
The championship culminates with the NCAA Women’s Final Four (April 5 & 7) live from Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse in Cleveland.
For the second consecutive season, the NCAA Div. I Women’s Basketball championship game will be broadcast on ABC, April 7 (2 PM ET) with a special one-hour pregame show.
Returning sponsors Capital One and Nissan are joined by Allstate to sponsor the Women’s Tournament Challenge, while Invesco QQQ will sponsor the Women’s Second Chance Bracket in its inaugural year.
In addition, the preliminary rounds of the inaugural Women’s Basketball Invitation Tournament (March 21-28) can be streamed live on ESPN+, with the semifinal games April 1 on ESPNU.
The WBIT Championship is scheduled to air on ESPN2 April 3 (7 PM ET).
WBIT semifinal and final games will be played in Butler’s Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
ESPN is again the exclusive home of the men's National Invitation Tournament, with the first round (March 19-20), second round (March 23-24), quarterfinals (March 26-27), semifinals (April 2) and championship (April 4) set to air across ESPN platforms.
First round games through the quarterfinals will originate from campus sites, while the semifinals and championship games will be played at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
The 2023 Women's March Madness national championship game delivered a record-setting 9.9 million viewers.
Last year’s ESPN Women’s Tournament Challenge saw a 41% increase in total brackets, “part of the significant upward trend in the popularity of women’s sports.”
ESPN said the 2023-24 women’s college basketball regular season saw a 37% year-over-year viewership increase across its platforms. Over 81 total games, this was the most-watched regular season on ESPN platforms since 2008-09. The 2023-24 regular season averaged 476,000 viewers across games on ESPN and ABC.
ESPN said it worked closely with women’s audio mission composer Chanell Crichlow to “create a new musical theme for the Women’s Tournament that highlights the excitement of the NCAAs.”
ESPN’s production of the NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship will deploy multiple platforms as part of its signature MegaCast presentation across ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN3 and ESPN+.
The Bird & Taurasi Show Presented by AT&T returns for its third year featuring collegiate and WNBA legends Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi.
They will again bring their signature banter and unique perspective to viewers, live from The Bird & Taurasi Show set inside Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse.
The show will be available on ESPN2 and ESPN+ for the semifinal games, then will air on ESPN and ESPN+ for the championship.
• First Four: March 20-21
• First round: March 22-23
• Second round: March 24-25
• Sweet 16: March 29-30
• Elite Eight: March 31-April 1
ª Final Four: Friday, April 5 (7 PM ET) with the second semifinal starting 30 minutes after the first game ends.
• NCAA championship game: Sunday, April 7 ABC (3 PM).
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