And this past Sunday’s NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship drew 9.9 million viewers, a sign that the surge shows no signs of slowing. Women’s basketball players recently landed a significant pay increase through a historic collective bargaining agreement. The report also found that the NWSL saw a 61% increase in average viewership during the regular 2025 season. And the 2025 U.S. Open women’s tennis final averaged 2.4 million viewers on ESPN, a 50% increase from the previous year. The business growth in women’s sports is real, and so is the cost of walking away from it.

Source: Forbes April 09, 2026 12:52 UTC