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NCAA President Charlie Baker requested TV ratings for the NCAA women’s volleyball tournament is up “100%” this year during an interview on ESPN’s “The Pat McAfee Show” on Thursday.
The rush comes only a year later the 2023 tournament saw an increase of 115% compared to 2022.
“Audiences are up a bit this year too, by another 100%,” Baker boasted during the interview. “People like to see competition. People like to see young people compete and we need to stop talking about sports other than football and basketball as ‘non-revenues’.”
Baker celebrated the spike in ratings ahead of Thursday night’s semifinals, when Pittsburgh plays Louisville and Penn State plays Nebraska.
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This year’s tournament nearly featured San Jose State in the midst of a national controversy that has overshadowed much of the college volleyball season. San Jose State volleyball player Brooke Slusser has an active lawsuit against the NCAA and another lawsuit with several other players against the Mountain West Conference.
The lawsuits allege that Slusser and other players were forced to compete with transgender player Blaire Fleming without ever being told Fleming’s natural gender. Controversy and the constant presence of a transgender athlete on the team throughout the season resulted in losses in seven regular season games and the semifinals of the conference tournament.
It was a losing streak unprecedented in sports history. The backlash resulted in a threat against Slusser and additional police protection for the team at all home and away games this year, Fox News Digital previously published.
The controversy even drew criticism from Donald Trump during a Fox News town hall in October.
San Jose State previously confirmed per Fox News Digital the team did not notify any opponents on its schedule of the situation involving Fleming during the season, only informing other schools of the need for additional security.
police protection The inclusion of a transgender player was even challenged in court. Slusser and other players involved in her lawsuit sought Fleming’s removal from the Mountain West tournament.
Transgender SJSU player Blaire Fleming, left, and teammate Brooke Slusser went to a magic show and celebrated Thanksgiving together in Las Vegas despite Fleming’s ongoing transgender lawsuit. (Thien-An Truong/San Jose State Athletics)
Colorado District Judge Kato Crews allowed Fleming to play in the tournament, ruling that the plaintiffs’ request for an immediate delay was “not reasonable” and “would risk confusion and undo months of planning and, at the very least, would cause harm, [San Jose State] and other teams participating in the tournament.”
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So Fleming, Slusser and the rest of the SJSU Spartans went to Las Vegas for the tournament and even got a first-round bye thanks to the six conference games their opponents surrendered.
Boise State has already dropped two regular-season meetings to San Jose State amid controversy because the university’s home state of Idaho has an executive order barring transgender athletes from participating in women’s sports. So after Boise State beat Utah State in the quarterfinals, the Broncos lost for the third time in the semifinals to send San Jose State to the championship game.
San Jose State University Spartans head coach Todd Kress speaks to reporters after losing in an NCAA Mountain West women’s volleyball match against the Colorado State University Rams in Fort Collins, Colo., on Oct. 3, 2024. (Santiago Mejia/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)
Colorado State beat San Jose State in the finals, keeping Fleming and the Spartans out of the NCAA Tournament.
After that game, Spartans head coach Todd Kress made a statement for Fox News Digital.
“Each announcement about the forfeiture has unleashed horrific, hateful messages that individuals have chosen to send directly to our student-athletes, our coaching staff and many associated with our program,” Kress said.
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