NCAA President Charlie Baker claimed TV ratings for the NCAA women’s volleyball tournament rose “100%” this year during an interview on ESPN’s “The Pat McAfee Show” Thursday.
The surge comes just one year after the 2023 tournament saw a 115% increase from 2022.
“The ratings this year grew a little too, by another 100%,” Baker boasted during the interview. “People love to see competition. People love to see young people compete, and we got to stop talking about sports other than football and basketball as ‘non-revenue.’”
Baker celebrated the surge in viewers ahead of the semifinals Thursday night, when Pittsburgh takes on Louisville and Penn State takes on Nebraska.
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This year’s tournament nearly had an appearance by San Jose State amid a national controversy that overshadowed much of the college volleyball season. San Jose State volleyball player Brooke Slusser has an active lawsuit against the NCAA and leads another lawsuit with several other players against the Mountain West Conference.
The lawsuits allege Slusser and other players were forced to compete with transgender player Blaire Fleming without ever being told of Fleming’s natural birth sex. The controversy and the transgender athlete’s continued presence on the team throughout the season resulted in forfeits of seven regular-season matches and a conference tournament semifinal.
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It was an unprecedented string of forfeits in the sport’s history. The backlash to the situation resulted in a threat against Slusser and added police protection for the team at all home and away games this year, Fox News Digital previously reported.
The controversy even drew criticism from Donald Trump during a Fox News town hall in October.
San Jose State previously confirmed to Fox News Digital the team did not notify any opponents on its schedule of the situation involving Fleming throughout the season, only giving notification to other schools of needed extra security.
police protection The inclusion of the transgender player was even challenged in court. Slusser and other players involved in her lawsuit sought to have Fleming removed from the Mountain West tournament.
SJSU transgender player Blaire Fleming, left, and teammate Brooke Slusser went to a magic show and had Thanksgiving together in Las Vegas despite an ongoing lawsuit over Fleming being transgender. (Thien-An Truong/San Jose State Athletics)
Colorado District Judge Kato Crews allowed Fleming to play in the tournament, ruling the plaintiffs’ request for an emergency delay “was not reasonable” and “would risk confusion and upend months of planning and would prejudice, at a minimum, [San Jose State] and other teams participating in the tournament.”
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So Fleming, Slusser and the other SJSU Spartans went to Las Vegas for the tournament and even got a bye in the first round by virtue of six conference games forfeited by opponents.
Boise State had already forfeited two regular-season meetings to San Jose State amid the controversy because the university’s home state of Idaho has an executive order in place to bar transgender athletes from women’s sports. So, after Boise State beat Utah State in the quarterfinal round, the Broncos forfeited a third time in the semifinal to send San Jose State to the championship match.
San Jose State University Spartans head coach Todd Kress speaks with reporters after a loss in an NCAA Mountain West women’s volleyball game against the Colorado State University Rams in Fort Collins, Colo., Oct. 3, 2024. (Santiago Mejia/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)
Colorado State defeated San Jose State in the final, keeping Fleming and the Spartans out of the NCAA tournament.
After that match, Spartans head coach Todd Kress provided a statement to Fox News Digital.
“Each forfeiture announcement unleashed appalling, hateful messages individuals chose to send directly to our student-athletes, our coaching staff and many associated with our program,” Kress said.
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Jackson Thompson is a sports writer for Fox News Digital. He previously worked for ESPN and Business Insider. Jackson has covered the Super Bowl and NBA Finals, and has interviewed iconic figures Usain Bolt, Rob Gronkowski, Jerry Rice, Troy Aikman, Mike Trout, David Ortiz and Roger Clemens.