DALLAS (AP) – There were a lot of empty seats at the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament regionals.
The NCAA saw its lowest attendance for the regionals in 20 years, and there is no change to the format in sight.
An average of 4,719 fans showed up for the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight games in the four neutral-site venues. That’s down 27 percent from last year and nearly 50 percent from 2014, when the games were played on campus sites. In 1997, an average of 4,252 fans came to the regionals.
This year’s numbers were bolstered by the Bridgeport Regional, which sold out both days UConn played there. No other site had a local team playing.
“We continue to work as hard as possible to support strong attendance at regional sites,” said Anucha Browne, the NCAA vice president for women’s basketball. “The challenge is taking some great teams that have real strong attendance on campuses and move them across the country that their fans can travel with them. It’s not a logical approach to grow our game.”