This story is part of Sports Illustrated’s exploration of the ways sports and finance intertwine—from the NIL revolution to online betting, business-minded athletes and more. For more on sports and money, see SI’s October 2023 Money Issue.
Viewers saw what they wanted to see in this year’s NCAA women’s basketball title game. Fans saw a coronation for women’s sports: 9.9 million people, the tournament’s biggest audience ever and a 104% increase over 2022, watched LSU defeat Iowa.
Pundits saw controversy: In the waning minutes of the game, Tigers star Angel Reese waved her hand over her face, which Hawkeyes star Caitlin Clark had done earlier in the tournament to another player, then pointed to her ring finger, where her championship jewelry would soon reside. She and Clark later became protagonists in a discussion of race—Reese is Black, Clark is white—and competitiveness in women’s sports.
