Presence for Michigan High School Athletic Association the number of tournaments has surpassed 1.4 million for the 2023-24 school year, with the organization attributing the continued growth to growing interest in women’s sports.
“These numbers confirm something we’ve been seeing firsthand for a long time and it’s exciting,” said Geoff Kimmerly, MHSAA communications director. “It’s exciting to see people interested in the wide variety of events we host.”
The MHSAA said in December that 471,651 fans attended women’s sports competitions, according to a press release of the group, breaking a previous record set in 2014-15. Participation in more than half a dozen women’s tournaments set records in 2023-24.
MSHAA tournaments in 2023-24 attracted 1,449,574 total spectators, down less than a percentage point from the 2022-23 school year, but this remains the second highest overall playoff attendance in the over the last seven years.
“A lot of times people say what happens at the professional level trickles down to the college level and then to the high school level and maybe that’s part of what you’re seeing here,” Kimmerly said of the growing interest for women’s sports.
Among professional women’s athletics, the New York Liberty’s victory in the WNBA Finals was one of the fourth most-watched Finals games in league history. It was also the most-watched WNBA game this decade, attracting 2.15 million viewers on ESPN. according to reports from Front Office Sports.
The WNBA saw growing interest with the emergence of Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese, who led to an increase in audience and growth in WNBA viewing.
Could this have led to a trickle-down effect in HS women’s sports? Kimmerly thinks so, although he says women’s sports at Michigan have always had support.
The MHSAA did not include numbers for the fall 2024 sports season or regular season events in the state. Here’s a look at the MHSAA report.
Football remains the most watched high school tournament sport
Football remains the MHSAA’s highest-attended tournament sport and drew 363,563 spectators for its 2023 postseason, down nearly 5% from the previous year, but the total included the highest attendance in the semi-finals (32,596) since 2012-13.
What else does the MHSAA report show?
Attendance for the 2024 men’s basketball tournament again ranked second with 280,800 fans, down 4% from the previous year but with increases for the regional rounds and quarterfinals.
Women’s basketball remained third in overall attendance and first among women’s sports, followed again by volleyball, which attracted 113,239 fans. Women’s basketball’s overall playoff attendance increased for the third straight year to 158,126 fans, an increase of 9% from 2022-23.
Softball set an overall tournament record in 2024 with 49,636 fans, surpassing the previous record set the previous year by nearly 2,000, and also set an individual round record with 4,935 fans in the quarterfinals.
Track and field – with girls and boys competing together – drew a record 42,899 spectators and a regional record 25,661. Totals for both tracks broke previous records set during the 2020-2021 school year .
Other sports also saw an increase in attendance
The individual wrestling tournament attracted 48,237 fans, an 8% increase from the previous season, and set records at the district (13,308) and regional (11,089) levels.
Overall participation in competitive cheer (29,297, up 12%), girls lacrosse (5,627, up 6%), boys lacrosse (17,107, up less than 1%) ) and boys for swimming and diving (6,116, up 33%) all increased as well from 2022-23.
The increase in competitive cheering was partly due to record attendance at the district level (14,528).
District baseball (36,553), boys lacrosse quarterfinals (3,021) and girls diving regionals (879) also set records.
How many people watched the WNBA in 2024?
The WNBA said it delivered its most-watched regular season in 24 years, finished with its highest attendance in 22 years and set records for digital consumption and merchandise sales in 2024.
CBS Sports had its most-watched regular season ever with an average of 1.10 million viewers, up 86% from 2023, as well as the most-watched season ever on Paramount+. ION averaged 670,000 viewers, up 133% from last season. NBA TV more than quadrupled its audience from 2023 and recorded the 13 most-watched WNBA games of all time.
The WNBA saw its highest total attendance in 22 years (2,353,735), up 48% from 2023. The league’s 154 sold-out venues marked a 242% increase from the season last (45). The WNBA averaged 9,807 fans per game, an increase of 48%.
Jalen Williams is a trending reporter at the Detroit Free Press. Contact him at jawilliams1@freepress.com.