Breakfast time, about nine hours before Iowa plays in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten tournament, as fans clad in black and gold with general admission tickets, eager to get the best possible seats, camped in the skyway outside the Target Center.
There’s a lot more to the show than Caitlin Clark, but she’s definitely been a crowd-pleaser as her college career comes to a close with the third-ranked Hawkeyes.
“It’s so fun to see all the excitement even at away games,” said Nicole Moyes, who stood at one of the gate lines with her husband, David Moyes, Friday morning before the Iowa won’t take the field for the evening. quarter-final session of the tournament.
The Moyes live in Coralville, just four miles from Carver-Hawkeye Arena, and have had season tickets for four years, matching the trajectory of Clark’s career. Before he arrived, the Moyes recall, the curtains were drawn to make the place less empty.
“You could basically sit anywhere you wanted,” Nicole Moyes said. Tricia Moeller also mentioned it. She attended six home games this season and made the three-hour drive from Des Moines to Minneapolis to meet her friend Barb Ernst, an Iowa native who now lives in Minnesota. Moeller’s black T-shirt read “Carver North” in gold block letters.
Iowa guard Caitlin Clark looks on before an NCAA college basketball quarterfinal game against Penn State in the Big Ten women’s tournament, Friday, March 8, 2024, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)
“No other event I’ve been a part of has had such momentum from the first moment,” said Moeller, herself a former high school basketball player. “It’s not just Caitlin. They are such a unit and have been that way for the past few years. That’s what makes going to games so fun.\”
The Big Ten tournament sold out nearly two weeks ago, with expected total attendance (109,000) for the five-day event more than double the 2023 total (47,923) at the same venue.
Pre-purchased ticket buyers were required to purchase packages for all sessions, allowing the league to fill more seats for first-round games and guaranteeing Hawkeyes – and/or Clark – fans a seat for the entire trip through the bracket.
Iowa fans had significant attendance at all games, regardless of who was playing. The chant “Let’s go, Hawks!” erupted just before the opening tip-off against Penn State on Friday night, when the main attraction finally arrived. When the doors opened, lines stretching a block snaked through the downtown skyway system.
Last year, the crowds were equally lively: 9,505 fans turned out for Iowa’s victory over Ohio State in the championship game, setting a Big Ten Tournament record. The Hawkeyes reached the NCAA title game later in the spring, adding even more momentum to this year as Clark’s global profile continued to grow.
The fact that the conference tournament was held a state away from Iowa during Clark’s last two seasons was a major boon for a league that will expand to 18 members next year with the arrival of the Oregon, UCLA, Southern California and Washington.
“Timing is everything,” said Kerry Kenny, Big Ten director of operations. The conference took a hard look at how it could maintain interest in its brand of women’s basketball after Clark’s departure, with the success and support of programs outside of Iowa – namely Indiana, Maryland, Nebraska and Ohio State – generating plenty of optimism.
“It’s about making sure that it’s not just a fleeting moment, but that you actually use it to attract new fans and younger fans who like what they see and come back year after year.” said Kenny, who noted that Thursday’s games gave the Big Ten Network the highest ratings for a second-round broadcast in the event’s history.
Calls for proposals are underway for the next four years for candidate cities to host the tournament. The two-year visit to Minneapolis clearly helped lay the foundation for future trips.
“It’s a great city for basketball and we were excited for it to be a launching pad for us,” Kenny said. ___
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