List of NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament Final Four broadcasters

In 1982, the first Division I NCAA women's basketball tournament was held. The NCAA was able to offer incentives, such as payment of transportation costs, to participating members, something the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women was not able to do. When former AIAW powerhouses like Tennessee, Louisiana Tech, and Old Dominion decided to participate in the NCAA tournament, the AIAW tournament lost much of its appeal and popularity.

NBC canceled its TV contract with the association, and in mid-1982 the AIAW stopped operations in all sports. Following the last AIAW sanctioned event in 1982, the AIAW pursued a federal antitrust suit against the NCAA. But one year later, after the presiding judge ruled against the organization, the AIAW ceased existence on June 30, 1983.

Under NCAA governance, scholarships increased. However, several problems the NCAA was facing, then and now, began to also affect women's intercollegiate athletics. Examples of these include recruiting irregularities and increased turnover in coaching positions for revenue-producing sports.

Several AIAW championships were televised by the TVS Television Network in 1979.

Television

Date	Network	Location	Play-by-play announcer	Color analyst(s)	Sideline reporter(s)	Rules analyst(s)	Studio host	Studio analyst(s)
1982	CBS (championship game)	Norfolk Scope (Norfolk, Virginia)	Frank Glieber	Cathy Rush
1983		Norfolk Scope (Norfolk, Virginia)		Ann Meyers
1984		Pauley Pavilion (Los Angeles, California)		Ann Meyers
1985	CBS (championship game) ESPN (national semifinals)	Frank Erwin Center (Austin, Texas)	Frank Glieber Jim Thacker	Pat Summitt Mimi Griffin
1986		Rupp Arena (Lexington, Kentucky)	Gary Bender Leandra Reilly	Mimi Griffin
1987		Frank Erwin Center (Austin, Texas)	Tim Brant Leandra Reilly	Mimi Griffin Cheryl Miller
1988		Tacoma Dome (Tacoma, Washington)	Tim Brant Roger Twibell
1989		Tacoma Dome (Tacoma, Washington)	Tim Brant Steve Physioc
1990		Thompson–Boling Arena (Knoxville, Tennessee)	Tim Brant Bob Rathbun	Mimi Griffin	Andrea Joyce		Andrea Joyce
1991	CBS	Lakefront Arena (New Orleans, Louisiana)	Brad Nessler	Mimi Griffin	Andrea Joyce and Mary Carillo
1992		Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena (Los Angeles, California)	Brad Nessler	Ann Meyers			Andrea Joyce
1993		The Omni (Atlanta, Georgia)	Tim Ryan		Andrea Joyce and Mary Carillo
1994		Richmond Coliseum (Richmond, Virginia)	Tim Ryan				Andrea Joyce
1995		Target Center (Minneapolis, Minnesota)	Sean McDonough		Dan Bonner		Andrea Joyce	Sheryl Swoopes
1996	ESPN	Charlotte Coliseum (Charlotte, North Carolina)	Mike Patrick				Robin Roberts	Mimi Griffin
1997		Riverfront Coliseum (Cincinnati, Ohio)						Mimi Griffin and Rebecca Lobo
1998		Kemper Arena (Kansas City, Missouri)
1999		San Jose Arena (San Jose, California)			Pam Ward and Jennifer Azzi
2000		First Union Center (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)			Michele Tafoya and Vera Jones-Soleyna			Jay Bilas and Vera Jones-Soleyna
2001		Savvis Center (St. Louis, Missouri)			Michele Tafoya and Pam Ward			Nell Fortner and Vera Jones
2002		Alamodome (San Antonio, Texas)						Nell Fortner and Vera Jones
2003		Georgia Dome (Atlanta, Georgia)			Doris Burke and Pam Ward		Rece Davis	Nell Fortner and Stacey Dales
2004		New Orleans Arena (New Orleans, Louisiana)			Doris Burke			Nell Fortner and Stacey Dales
2005		RCA Dome (Indianapolis, Indiana)			Doris Burke and Mark Jones			Stacey Dales and Lisa Leslie
2006		TD Garden (Boston, Massachusetts)		Doris Burke	Holly Rowe and Mark Jones		Trey Wingo	Kara Lawson and Stacey Dales
2007		Quicken Loans Arena (Cleveland, Ohio)			Holly Rowe and Mark Jones
2008		St. Pete Times Forum (Tampa, Florida)			Holly Rowe and Rebecca Lobo
2009		Scottrade Center (St. Louis, Missouri)						Kara Lawson and Carolyn Peck
2010^[1]		Alamodome (San Antonio, Texas)	Dave O'Brien
2011^[2]		Bankers Life Fieldhouse (Indianapolis, Indiana)
2012^[3]		Pepsi Center (Denver, Colorado)
2013^[4]		New Orleans Arena (New Orleans, Louisiana)					Kevin Negandhi
2014^[5]		Bridgestone Arena (Nashville, Tennessee)			Holly Rowe			Kara Lawson and Rebecca Lobo
2015^[6]		Amalie Arena (Tampa, Florida)
2016^[7]		Bankers Life Fieldhouse (Indianapolis, Indiana)	Beth Mowins
2017^[8]		American Airlines Center (Dallas, Texas)	Dave O'Brien	Doris Burke and Kara Lawson			Maria Taylor	Rebecca Lobo and Andy Landers
2018^[9]		Nationwide Arena (Columbus, Ohio)	Adam Amin	Kara Lawson and Rebecca Lobo				Rebecca Lobo, Nell Fortner and Andy Landers
2019^[10]		Amalie Arena (Tampa, Florida)	Adam Amin	Kara Lawson and Rebecca Lobo				Rebecca Lobo, Nell Fortner and Andy Landers
2020	Not held because of the COVID-19 pandemic
2021^[11]	ESPN	Alamodome (San Antonio, Texas)	Ryan Ruocco	Rebecca Lobo	Holly Rowe and LaChina Robinson		Maria Taylor	Andy Landers and Carolyn Peck
2022^[12]	ESPN	Target Center (Minneapolis, Minnesota)			Holly Rowe and Andraya Carter		Elle Duncan	Rebecca Lobo, Nikki Fargas and Carolyn Peck
2023^[13]	ABC (championship game) ESPN (national semifinals)	American Airlines Center (Dallas, Texas)			Holly Rowe and Andraya Carter			Rebecca Lobo, Monica McNutt, Carolyn Peck and Andraya Carter
2024^[14]	ABC (championship game) ESPN (national semifinals)	Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse (Cleveland, Ohio)			Holly Rowe	Lisa Mattingly and Denny Meyer		Andraya Carter, Chiney Ogwumike, Carolyn Peck and Aliyah Boston

Notes

There was no TV coverage of the national semifinals prior to 1985.
All 63 games were broadcast on television from 2003 to 2019 on ESPN and ESPN2 with added coverage on ESPNU and ESPN3 since 2006. Local teams are shown on each channel when available, with "whip-around" coverage during the first and second rounds designed to showcase the most competitive contests in the rest of the country. All regional semifinals, regional finals and Final Four games were televised nationally in exclusive windows.
In 2021 ESPN3 coverage was dropped (except for streaming of ABC games). Instead all 63 games were shown nationally in exclusive windows on ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPNews, and ABC.
Beginning in 2022 the tournament expanded to 67 games with all being shown nationally in exclusive windows on ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPNews, and ABC.

Radio

Date	Network	Location	Play-by-play announcer	Color analyst(s)	Sideline reporter(s)	Studio host
2006	Westwood One	TD Garden (Boston, Massachusetts)	Beth Mowins	Debbie Antonelli	Krista Blunk	Brad Sham
2007		Quicken Loans Arena (Cleveland, Ohio)				Joe Tolleson
2008		St. Pete Times Forum (St. Petersburg, Florida)
2009		Scottrade Center (St. Louis, Missouri)
2010		Alamodome (San Antonio, Texas)
2011		Conseco Fieldhouse (Indianapolis, Indiana)
2012	Dial Global	Pepsi Center (Denver, Colorado)	Dave Ryan
2013	Dial Global	New Orleans Arena (New Orleans, Louisiana)
2014	Westwood One	Bridgestone Arena (Nashville, Tennessee)
2015		Amalie Arena (Tampa, Florida)	John Sadak			Lance Medow
2016		Bankers Life Fieldhouse (Indianapolis, Indiana)
2017		American Airlines Center (Dallas, Texas)
2018		Nationwide Arena (Columbus, Ohio)
2019		Amalie Arena (Tampa, Florida)
2020	Not held because of the COVID-19 pandemic
2021	Westwood One	Alamodome (San Antonio, Texas)	Ryan Radtke	Debbie Antonelli	Krista Blunk	Lance Medow
2022		Target Center (Minneapolis, Minnesota)
2023		American Airlines Center (Dallas, Texas)
2024		Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse (Cleveland, Ohio)			Ros Gold-Onwude

References

^ "2010 ESPN Women's NCAA Final Four Fact Sheet". ESPN Press Room U.S. 2010-04-01. Retrieved 2010-04-01.
^ Margolis, Rachel (March 14, 2011). "ESPN Networks to Air All 63 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Championship Games". ESPN. Archived from the original on March 28, 2014. Retrieved 14 Mar 2011.
^ Margolis, Rachel (March 13, 2012). "ESPN2 and ESPN3 Open NCAA Women's Basketball Championship Coverage". ESPN. Retrieved 13 Mar 2012.
^ Margolis, Rachel (March 19, 2013). "ESPN Home to NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Championship Coverage". ESPN. Archived from the original on January 25, 2014. Retrieved March 19, 2013.
^ Margolis, Rachel (March 18, 2014). "ESPN Networks to Present Entire NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Championship". ESPN. Retrieved 18 Mar 2014.
^ Margolis, Rachel (March 12, 2015). "2015 NCAA Women's Basketball Championship Bracket Unveiled Monday on ESPN". ESPN. Retrieved 12 Mar 2015.
^ Margolis Siegal, Rachel (March 15, 2016). "ESPN Networks Home to Entire NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Championship". ESPN. Retrieved 15 Mar 2016.
^ "Women's Final Four Presented by Capital One on ESPN – Extensive, Multiplatform Coverage from Dallas". ESPN Press Room U.S. 2017-03-29. Retrieved 2017-03-29.
^ "Women's Final Four Presented by Capital One Exclusively on ESPN and ESPN2". ESPN Press Room U.S. 2018-03-28. Retrieved 2018-03-28.
^ "Women's Final Four Presented by Capital One Exclusively on ESPN and ESPN2". ESPN Press Room U.S. 2019-04-04. Retrieved 2019-04-04.
^ "NCAA Women's Final Four Presented by Capital One Presented Exclusively on ESPN". ESPN Press Room U.S. 2021-04-01. Retrieved 2021-04-01.
^ "ESPN's Unprecedented MegaCast Presentation of 2022 NCAA Women's Final Four Tips Off Friday". ESPN Press Room U.S. 2022-03-30. Retrieved 2022-03-30.
^ "The Dance Descends on Dallas: ESPN's MegaCast Presentation of the 2023 NCAA Women's Final Four Tips Off Friday, March 31". ESPN Press Room U.S. 2023-03-29. Retrieved 2023-03-29.
^ "Calling on Cleveland! ESPN's MegaCast Presentation of the 2024 NCAA Women's Final Four Tips Off Friday, April 5". ESPN Press Room U.S. 2024-04-03. Retrieved 2024-04-03.

External links

Women's National Championship numbers game.

[1] "2010 ESPN Women's NCAA Final Four Fact Sheet". ESPN Press Room U.S. 2010-04-01. Retrieved 2010-04-01.

[2] Margolis, Rachel (March 14, 2011). "ESPN Networks to Air All 63 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Championship Games". ESPN. Archived from the original on March 28, 2014. Retrieved 14 Mar 2011.

[3] Margolis, Rachel (March 13, 2012). "ESPN2 and ESPN3 Open NCAA Women's Basketball Championship Coverage". ESPN. Retrieved 13 Mar 2012.

[4] Margolis, Rachel (March 19, 2013). "ESPN Home to NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Championship Coverage". ESPN. Archived from the original on January 25, 2014. Retrieved March 19, 2013.

[5] Margolis, Rachel (March 18, 2014). "ESPN Networks to Present Entire NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Championship". ESPN. Retrieved 18 Mar 2014.

[6] Margolis, Rachel (March 12, 2015). "2015 NCAA Women's Basketball Championship Bracket Unveiled Monday on ESPN". ESPN. Retrieved 12 Mar 2015.

[7] Margolis Siegal, Rachel (March 15, 2016). "ESPN Networks Home to Entire NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Championship". ESPN. Retrieved 15 Mar 2016.

[8] "Women's Final Four Presented by Capital One on ESPN – Extensive, Multiplatform Coverage from Dallas". ESPN Press Room U.S. 2017-03-29. Retrieved 2017-03-29.

[9] "Women's Final Four Presented by Capital One Exclusively on ESPN and ESPN2". ESPN Press Room U.S. 2018-03-28. Retrieved 2018-03-28.

[10] "Women's Final Four Presented by Capital One Exclusively on ESPN and ESPN2". ESPN Press Room U.S. 2019-04-04. Retrieved 2019-04-04.

[11] "NCAA Women's Final Four Presented by Capital One Presented Exclusively on ESPN". ESPN Press Room U.S. 2021-04-01. Retrieved 2021-04-01.

[12] "ESPN's Unprecedented MegaCast Presentation of 2022 NCAA Women's Final Four Tips Off Friday". ESPN Press Room U.S. 2022-03-30. Retrieved 2022-03-30.

[13] "The Dance Descends on Dallas: ESPN's MegaCast Presentation of the 2023 NCAA Women's Final Four Tips Off Friday, March 31". ESPN Press Room U.S. 2023-03-29. Retrieved 2023-03-29.

[14] "Calling on Cleveland! ESPN's MegaCast Presentation of the 2024 NCAA Women's Final Four Tips Off Friday, April 5". ESPN Press Room U.S. 2024-04-03. Retrieved 2024-04-03.

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