If you need any more proof that NCAA women's basketball is exploding in popularity this year, then here it is.
The ticket prices for the NCAA Women's Final Four and Championship game have hit massive highs, so much so that the "get-in price" — which refers to the cheapest possible tickets in order to get in the stadium — have surpassed those on the men's side for both events.
The get-in price for the 2024 Women's Championship game is currently at $320, which is 38% more expensive than the $257 get-in ticket price for the Men's Championship game, ticketing company TickPick told TheStreet. The Final Four get-in prices have an even wider gap, as the Women's Final Four price is at $474 compared to a price of $342 for the Men's Final Four.
Related: Ticket prices for Caitlin Clark's final college home game are insanely high
There is one important caveat to note, and that's the fact that the Women's games will be held in Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland, with a capacity of 19,530, versus the Men's games which will be held in State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, which has a capacity of over 63,000.
The added supply of tickets — and how much further away it will be to watch from those get-in tickets in Arizona — probably explains the feat.
Average ticket prices right now likely tell a more accurate story since that averages out all the ticket prices, from those in the top level to the courtside seats. The average ticket price for the women's championship game is at $389, which is about 25% less than the average ticket price for the men's game. For the Final Four, the women's ticket prices cost $321 while the men's is at $448.
Related: Major city facing hurdles as three huge sports teams battle to build new stadiums
This gap is still much smaller than in past years though. The average Final Four ticket price in 2023 for the women's side was at $176, while the men's side was at $292, over 65% more. Even in the highest-priced women's Final Four of the last decade, which was in 2018, the women's tickets averaged out at $251, while the men's tickets were over 50% more expensive at $380.
And TickPick predicts that if Caitlin Clark and Iowa are able to make a run to the Final Four and Championship as they did last year, the ticket prices could be the most expensive on record for the women's game.
The women's game is clearly gaining popularity exponentially, a win for sports fans as both tournaments will surely be much-watch television.
Related: Veteran fund manager picks favorite stocks for 2024