NCAA President Charlie Baker claimed TV ratings for the NCAA women’s volleyball tournament rose “100%” this year during an interview on ESPN’s “The Pat McAfee Show” Thursday.
The surge comes just one year after the 2023 tournament saw a 115% increase from 2022.
“The ratings this year grew a little too, by another 100%,” Baker boasted during the interview. “People love to see competition. People love to see young people compete, and we got to stop talking about sports other than football and basketball as ‘non-revenue.’”
Baker celebrated the surge in viewers ahead of the semifinals Thursday night, when Pittsburgh takes on Louisville and Penn State takes on Nebraska.
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This year’s tournament nearly had an appearance by San Jose State amid a national controversy that overshadowed much of the college volleyball season. San Jose State volleyball player Brooke Slusser has an active lawsuit against the NCAA and leads another lawsuit with several other players against the Mountain West Conference.
The lawsuits allege Slusser and other players were forced to compete with transgender player Blaire Fleming without ever being told of Fleming’s natural birth sex. The controversy and the transgender athlete’s continued presence on the team throughout the season resulted in forfeits of seven regular-season matches and a conference tournament semifinal.
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It was an unprecedented string of forfeits in the sport’s history. The backlash to the situation resulted in a threat against Slusser and added police protection for the team at all home and away games this year, Fox News Digital previously reported.
The controversy even drew criticism from Donald Trump during a Fox News town hall in October.