More than halfway through the season, the USC women’s basketball team has been putting on a show, and the student body has taken notice.
With a 14-4 record, a No. 15 AP poll ranking, and star freshman guard JuJu Watkins breaking conference records, attendance is up and many students believe the team should be getting more attention than it is.
The women’s team has averaged 3,386 fans in the stands over 11 home games, while the men’s team has averaged 6,228 fans over nine games. Both teams had full stands — more than 10,000 fans — for their games against crosstown rival UCLA.
Compared to last year, the women’s team has averaged more than three times as many fans this season. The men’s game attendance has risen too, by 50%, which some students credit to men’s freshman guard Bronny James — whose debut game against Cal State Long Beach had 9,806 fans in attendance. The women’s game against UC Riverside, which was scheduled immediately after, had 4,201 fans in attendance.
“I know there’s a lot of stardom happening with Bronny James on the men’s basketball team that’s pulling in a lot of viewers,” said Connor Zook, a sophomore studying Astronautical Engineering. “I think that us being ranked nationally from our women’s team makes a huge difference on whether or not people want to attend the games.”
Theo Hockstader, a senior studying philosophy, cognitive science and economics, said that the attendance disparity makes sense from a celebrity standpoint.
“I mean, just purely off of having Bronny James on the men’s team, I think that’s a big draw,” he said. “But of course there are stars on the women’s team who deserve some more celebrity as well. I think the attendance should be higher for the women’s games.”
Many students believe that the women’s team deserves more attention, primarily because of their performance this season compared to the men’s.
“The men’s team is good, but the women’s team is performing better right now,” said Prinay Patel, a junior studying business. “The women’s team should definitely get more importance as well.”
Bryneé Evans, a senior studying psychology, said that she thinks the games could be marketed more effectively.
“Advertising is a big thing because I didn’t really know when the UCLA game was for the women’s, but I would have gone if I had known,” she said. “The more students know about the game, the more likely they’re going to be inclined to go.”
Erin Yoon, a freshman studying journalism, thinks that there isn’t as much buzz around the games, leading to lower attendance, rather than an advertising problem.
“I do get the emails, and it’s not like they’re marginalizing the women,” Yoon said. “I think that it’s more so a problem that’s everywhere, like with the WNBA and the NBA, like nobody really cares about the women’s team. In general, I think that men’s sports just get more attention.”