Big Ten Commissioner Tony Petitti Excited About Growth Potential Of Women’s Basketball

Tony Petitti spoke about the growth of the women's game during Big Ten Media Days on Wednesday.

Todd Golden | Oct 2, 2024

Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti speaks to the media during the Big 10 football media day at Lucas Oil Stadium. / Robert Goddin-Imagn Images

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ROSEMONT, Ill. – The popularity of women’s basketball reached historic heights in 2024, and the Big Ten Conference was at the forefront of the growth.

For example, ESPN’s women’s basketball tournament broadcasts averaged 2.2 million viewers in 2024, a whopping 121% increase from the 2023 tournament.

Former Iowa guard Caitlin Clark, who helped the Hawkeyes reach the NCAA championship game in consecutive seasons, was a huge part of the reason interest was so high.

The Big Ten may have inherited the next phenom as Southern California super sophomore JuJu Watkins comes into the league for the coming season.

Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti wants to make sure the Big Ten is at the forefront of continued growth in the women’s game. He spoke about the position of Big Ten women’s basketball during Big Ten Basketball Media Days on Wednesday.

Petitti often speaks from the point of view of a former television executive. Petitti worked at CBS from 1997-2008 and MLB Network from 2008-2020. He values television positioning.

“It seemed like every week we were setting a broadcast record. That’s an unfair standard going forward, but does that success lead to more opportunity? That’s what we care about,” Petitti said.

The Big Ten broadcast schedule will be announced next week, but Petitti said that a record eight Big Ten games will be on over-the-air television in the 2024-25 season. He said that is a direct result of the exposure from the last two seasons.

“I think what happens last year is you see the success. Networks and broadcast partners make decisions on how to program. Those who put games on broadcast and games with more exposure were rewarded with great results,” Petitti said.

“What that does, having been on that side of the house, it creates copycat behavior. They’re more likely to make those decisions going forward. So you’re seeing an increase in broadcast exposure going forward on the women’s side,” he added.

Petitti also noted that while interest is high, there needs to be out-of-the-box thinking on how to continue to bring visibility to the game. For all of the interest that Clark generated at Iowa during her career, the school maximized the popularity by being innovative in promoting the sport.

“I give Iowa credit, they did things to make sure (interest was sustained). Having the outdoor game and 55,000 people. When you see something working, you get more creative and it’s our job to keep doing that,” Petitti said.

“When you have breakout moments and breakout players, you grow from there. There’s no doubt what happened at Iowa elevated all of women’s basketball,” Petitti added.

Another part of growing the sport is related to the growth of the Big Ten to an 18-team league. USC and UCLA are both expected to be top 10 teams in 2025. Oregon is a traditional power in the sport.

“We have really strong programs coming into the Big Ten in women’s basketball. The league has gotten a lot deeper and more competitive. It’s our job to make sure we’re taking advantage of those opportunities and getting as many teams in the NCAA Tournament as we can,” Petitti said.

Petitti said he wanted to make sure that the entire league was connected and that the new schools weren’t just regionalized out of the scope of the rest of the conference.

It played a role in how the Big Ten approached scheduling for the coming season. The Big Ten maintained the 18-game schedule it had with a 14-team league. It means the only team that will be played twice will be the assigned rival. Indiana and Purdue will play each other twice.

“How do you integrate the new members? The best way to do it is everybody has to see everybody as much as possible. It’s the fastest way to grow rivalries and connect everybody,” Petitti said.

“You can’t predict what the best games are necessarily going to be down the road. If you can at least guarantee that you’re seeing everybody it gives you a head start that you’re not missing something,” Petitti added. “You want to connect the league. So playing everybody is really important. If you go to divisions or do things that’s more regional-based, you kind of lose the connectivity of everybody playing everybody.”

Petitti also said that he’s happy with the 15-team conference tournament format, which will be used for both the men’s and women’s tournament, but said it will be subject to review going forward.

One thing is certain – the Big Ten wants to continue to be key to the ongoing growth of women’s basketball.

“The amount of resources and time we’re spending on women’s basketball is significant. I can’t speak to what it was before, but with our staff it’s a huge point of emphasis because there’s a great opportunity to grow,” Petitti said.

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