There were "a lot of empty seats at the NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament regionals," as the NCAA saw its lowest attendance in 20 years, and there is "no change to the format in sight," according to Doug Feinberg of the AP. An average of 4,719 fans showed up for the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight games in the four neutral-site venues. That is down 27% from last year and nearly 50% from '14, when the games were "played on campus sites." In '97, an average of 4,252 fans came to the regionals. This year's numbers were "bolstered by the Bridgeport Regional, which sold out both days UConn played there." No other site "had a local team playing." NCAA VP/Women's Basketball Anucha Browne said, "We continue to work as hard as possible to support strong attendance at regional sites. The challenge is taking some great teams that have real strong attendance on campuses and move them across the country that their fans can travel with them. It's not a logical approach to grow our game." South Carolina and Florida State met in the Stockton (Calif.) Regional final on Monday with "only 3,134 fans in attendance." South Carolina has "led the NCAA in home attendance the past few years, drawing an average of 12,277 fans this season." However, few "wanted to make the cross-country trip to California." The Oklahoma City Regional "had a strong matchup, with Baylor facing Mississippi State -- the top two teams in the region." Yet only 3,128 fans attended Sunday's game. The Lexington Regional was "even worse, with 2,527 fans coming to see Notre Dame face Stanford." However, the numbers "aren't all bad" as attendance at the first two rounds of the NCAAs was the "third highest in the last 10 years" (AP, 3/29).
