That's all that really matters. Who really wants to sit around hashing out their positions on women's wrestling for more than 30 seconds? We'll make it happen come fall.
Iowa State
- Thread starter Dvten25
- Start date
That's all that really matters. Who really wants to sit around hashing out their positions on women's wrestling for more than 30 seconds? We'll make it happen come fall.
This might be your opinion but actual data suggests 2x-4x more people care about the Women's College World Series than the NCAA Wrestling Championships.
The 2025 Women’s College World Series (WCWS) set all-time viewership records, with an average of 1.3 million viewers across 15 games on ESPN platforms, marking a 24% increase over the previous year. The 2025 championship series saw 2.4 million viewers for Game 3, making it the most-watched NCAA softball game ever.
- Most-Watched Championship Game: Game 3 (Texas vs. Texas Tech) drew 2.4 million viewers.
- Championship Records: Games 1 and 2 both drew 2.1 million viewers.
- Top Non-Finals Game: The UCLA-Tennessee game on June 1 reached 2.2 million viewers, with a peak of 3.9 million, setting a record for the best non-Finals game in history.
- Tournament Growth: The entire NCAA softball tournament was up 2% year-over-year.
The 2026 NCAA Wrestling Championships saw strong viewership, with sessions on ESPN reaching over 700,000 viewers in March 2026. The tournament consistently performs well on cable, often reaching 8 million viewers over three days, with the finals typically drawing over 600,000–700,000 viewers on ESPN or ESPN2.
Recent Ratings and Viewership Trends
- 2026: A March 21, 2026, session on ESPN averaged 712,000 viewers, with a 0.22 rating.
Look, you can watch any sport that you want but I'm sorry, this is a silly comparison that doesn't prove anything. I'd rather watch almost any women's sport than watch men play Cornhole or Pickleball.
It has to be apples to apples; I believe that only women's Tennis viewership approaches (and sometime exceeds) men's. I enjoy women's Tennis as much as men's; I watch a lot of women's Golf as compared to men's; I would rather watch women's Gymnastics or Figure Skating although I enjoy both sexes.
I will admit that I have no interest in nor have I ever seen a complete women's contest of: Softball, Hockey, Wrestling, Soccer or Basketball (although Caitlin Clark has me occasionally looking at highlights).
You not caring about women’s sports is true. Nobody caring about women’s sports is not true. OSU women’s wrestling detracting from the men’s program is an unknown.
point number three is the only one worth having a discussion over here IMO
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College softball has higher TV viewership than college baseball. I think you may be surprised what women's wrestling would do. It will be a different crowd.
College softball is a phenomenal game to watch and I’d encourage anyone who hasn’t watched a game to check it out. Especially when they get to the WCWS in OKC.
If you want apples to apples to you consider the Mens College world series comparable to the women's because they out drew the men the last 2 year on all the ESPN platforms.
You may not care about women's sports and that is fine but the truth is women's sports are now a billion dollar industry so apparently a lot of people are watching and a lot of people care.
It still isn't apples to apples. Most baseball fans don't watch college because they watch MLB. There is no equivalent for softball. Compare the number of people who watch and care about baseball to the same group for softball.
The truth is you will never find a apples to apples partially because when data suggest the alternative you can come up with a million reasons why. I get a lot of folks don't like women's sport and that's fine. But just because you don't like or watch something doesn't make it true when you make a blanket statement that no one else watches or cares either.
Softball so outperformed the expected Olympic ticket sales that I doubt any more tickets get released to the general public in future ticket drops. Maybe a few but the vast majority are already sold.
People do care, you just don't.
Alright dude. Go into your nearest sports bar. Ask the bartender to switch the TVs to the WNBA. Then report back here how long it takes someone to give you a wedgie.
I'm not sure what the point of this discussion is any more...
Blanket statements like "nobody cares about women's sports" is obviously false to any female athlete, parent of a female athlete, sibling or friend of a female athlete or anyone with a brain in general.
I also think everyone with a brain knows, in general, that a larger number of people follow men's sports than women's sports, with some exceptions - so what? What's the point?
What exactly is the argument here?
Blanket statements like "nobody cares about women's sports" is obviously false to any female athlete, parent of a female athlete, sibling or friend of a female athlete or anyone with a brain in general.
I also think everyone with a brain knows, in general, that a larger number of people follow men's sports than women's sports, with some exceptions - so what? What's the point?
What exactly is the argument here?