Why we love women’s basketball

Life and Art from FT Weekend

Forhecz Topher

Tv & Film, Arts, Society & Culture

4.6 • 601 Ratings

🗓️ 3 June 2024

⏱️ 22 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Women’s basketball is having a big moment. Take this stat: the final game in the US women’s college NCAA playoffs in April had more viewers than the Academy Awards. And those college stars, such as Caitlin Clark, have just brought that rabid fandom to the professional league. The WNBA has seen a huge rise in viewers, ticket sales and fans. So what impact is this having on culture? The FT’s US sports business correspondent Sara Germano brings Lilah to a WNBA game to explore how women’s basketball became so popular, and what it all means.

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We love hearing from you. Lilah is on Instagram @lilahrap. We’re on X @lifeandartpod and on email at [email protected]. We are grateful for reviews on Apple and Spotify. And please share this episode with your friends!

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Links (all FT links get you past the paywall):

– Sara’s article about the WNBA and superstar Caitlin Clark: https://on.ft.com/457HTym

– Here is the WNBA schedule in case you’re considering seeing a game in person: https://www.wnba.com/schedule?season=2024&month=all

– Sara is on X @germanotes

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Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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Transcript

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0:00.0	So these kids, like, get to see professional basketball.
0:12.4	Yeah.
0:13.0	Up close.
0:13.9	The dad holding his daughter on his lap on the court.
0:16.5	Yeah.
0:17.6	That's amazing.
0:21.7	This is Life and Art from F.T. Weekend.
0:24.8	I'm Lila Raptopoulos.
0:26.8	What you're hearing is the crowd roaring for women's basketball.
0:31.6	In this tape, I'm at the Barclay Center in Brooklyn, New York, to watch the New York Liberty.
0:37.2	That's one of the best teams in the WNBA, which is the Women's Professional League.
0:41.7	They're playing The Indiana Fever.
0:44.2	I'm with my colleague, who's an actual sports reporter.
0:47.2	She's the Financial Times' U.S. sports business correspondent, Sarah Germano.
0:51.8	And the energy is incredible.
0:58.0	People are screaming. The halftime show is a spectacle, and I'm having the time of my life.
1:00.0	I think I'm actually becoming an active Liberty fan.
1:05.0	Sarah and I went to this game because I'm not alone.
1:09.0	Women's basketball is having a huge moment right now with record-breaking TV viewership.
1:15.4	The star players have name recognition, even with people who don't watch basketball.
1:19.6	And this may finally be the moment that women's basketball breaks through to the mainstream.
1:24.5	So today, Sarah Germano is here with me in the New York studio to talk about
	...

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