The Next Chapter: How Iowa’s AD Plans to Sustain the Surge in Women’s Basketball Popularity
Cleveland — The next generation of women’s basketball coaches was being trained by new athletics director Beth Goetz, ten hours before Iowa’s women’s basketball team took on UConn in the NCAA Final Four.
Goetz, 49, was a member of a council that provided guidance to recently appointed coaches. After graduating from Clemson, she worked as a young soccer coach in their place before. She is giving back in this way. She was unaffected, though, by what was about to happen on Friday night: Iowa defeating UConn 71-69.
Going into one of the most influential periods in college athletics, Goetz has three levels of concerns for herself. The local day-to-day task include overseeing an athletics department that brought in $167.4 million during the 2023 fiscal year. The Big Ten is about to undergo a makeover that will include four new campuses and numerous logistical difficulties. Lastly, there are existential concerns about pay for play at the national level.
Prior to her panel presentation, Goetz spoke with The Athletic about a variety of issues, most of which had to do with Iowa athletics. There are two sections to our conversation. The first one is about Carver-Hawkeye Arena and basketball for both men and women. Later this week, there will be a second segment that focuses on football and other general issues.
The women’s basketball team placed second nationally for the second year in a row. Last August, the Hawkeyes completely sold out their home schedule in addition to 37 of their 39 games. Caitlin Clark appeared to break major records in every game and was named the unanimous national player of the year twice. Her influence altered women’s sports in this nation, from local attendance to national broadcast viewership. Next week, she will join the WNBA Draft and is sure to be the first pick.
The popularity of women’s basketball in Iowa is astounding. Has it ever caught your attention?
Goetz: “Not right now, this very minute. Of course, I worked at UConn for a while (senior woman administrator from 2016–18). They were in the middle of winning a run of national titles and going 100 games without losing. Yes, there was a lot of enthusiasm, but this is not like that at all.
“I think it is because you have multiple stars in the game, the media attention and if there’s been another Caitlin Clark, who has generational talent and personality and passion and fire that has captivated (the audience), we just didn’t get to see that previously. Probably because it was before the advent of social media and all the other things. So it’s surreal, just the reach that this has had for Iowa in particular.”
Capturing and sustaining that excitement is the next step.
Goetz: “I believe Lisa (Bluder) has done a fantastic job at highlighting the elements that make the game so amazing. Aside from (Clark) and her incredible plays, women’s basketball is currently being played at a very high caliber. I believe that attracts those who are tuned in. They have witnessed games with a ton of gifted athletes, amazing passing, and players who are more athletic than they have ever been. I believe the Iowa team did a fantastic job of illustrating that. Caitlin can undoubtedly be happy of the legacy she will leave behind because, in my opinion, the standard of play has increased and attention has focused on more than just one athlete.
“It’s our job to make sure in what I just described that we capture that and articulate that message to our fans, and market that to our fans so we can continue to sell tickets at a really high level and attract people to the games. I think this time is different. I think this is a different moment nationally. Are we going to have the secondary market tickets going for thousands of dollars? Maybe not. But we’re going to have an exciting team to watch, and I think we’ve brought some fans in that are going to continue to want to be a part of that.”
The state of the men’s basketball program is the antithesis of the Iowa women’s basketball juggernaut. It appears to be a good scenario on the surface. In a rebuilding year, the Hawkeyes advanced to four consecutive NCAA tournaments before losing to the NIT. Luka Garza (2020–21) was the national player of the year twice; Keegan Murray (2022) was a first-team All-American and an NBA lottery pick; and Kris Murray (2023) was selected in the first round of the NBA. Since 2012, Iowa has seen just one conference losing season in the fiercely competitive Big Ten.
However, there are problems. Iowa sold 9,981 tickets per game on average throughout its 17 home games, which is the second-lowest average for the team since at least the 1970s. Previously a topic of discussion in the state, the men hardly attracted much attention this year. Although Fran McCaffery is the program’s most successful coach in history, many supporters are fed up with the team’s dismal performance in NCAA tournament play. The Hawkeyes, who were formerly a Sweet 16 mainstay, have not advanced to the NCAA’s second weekend since 1999.
Star perimeter shooter Payton Sandfort has declared for the NBA Draft, but he is still eligible to return, and two starters, including his son Patrick McCaffery, have accessed the transfer portal. Regarding the distant future, at most, there is ambiguity.
Goetz: “Men’s basketball is a priority for us and it always has been. But I can just tell you, that’s an area that we’re continuing to focus on right now in terms of what we can do from a programmatic standpoint and from an administrative standpoint to make sure we are providing the level of support that we need to.
“Obviously, lots of conversations have been around students and how we engage them. So there are some places where I think as a university, you need to be creative and try some new things and work with our students and our fans to really understand what they need and what’s important to them. We know there are some factors that might be uncontrollable, but it doesn’t mean there may not be some things we can do to try to address those, whether that is TV schedules, parking, all of those other pieces. How do we then take that information and ensure that we’re trying to put some things in place that are going to be helpful?”
Goetz reports that season ticket sales for men’s basketball are marginally down. She plans to ask fans about the program in an off-season survey in order to gather some feedback.
Goetz: “It certainly could be that there’s some disappointment that we didn’t make the tournament and some concern there. So we’re not dismissing that piece of it. But it could also be that some of those same individuals jumped on the women’s bandwagon, which is great. Where are they coming from? Are they making multiple trips to Iowa City? It’s a little bit different than football, where you’re planning to come in weekly. Anytime you’re doing it, you really want to dive in, understand the data, but also to talk to those fans.”
According to Goetz, the context allays any worries regarding the transfer webpage. According to On3, as of Monday, 13 Big Ten men’s basketball teams—including Iowa—had at least three players in the portal.
Goetz: “We want all of our programs, and certainly men’s basketball, to compete at the highest level and recognize that there’s been a little more apathy than perhaps they’ve seen in the past. And so, alongside coach, we’re not just gonna let that go. It’s how do we dive in and figure out exactly what the concerns are? And how can we address it and ensure that we’ve tried to position ourselves for continued success?
“It was a pretty good coaching job in my opinion. We had a really young group. Yes, you’d like to achieve more, but then we’re coming off three straight pretty great years where you lost an NBA pick and that’s really impressive. I thought the team’s last couple games were tough, but I thought we saw a lot of improvement and development. They started playing together, and we’ve got some really talented, young athletes. Again, we’re not going to put our heads in the sand. I hear that from fans. I understand their concerns, and we’re gonna try to be responsive to that.”
Carver-Hawkeye Arena is a constant source of ire for Iowa supporters. During the boisterous seasons of women’s basketball and wrestling, it was completely booked. There are constant complaints about everything from the lack of a mid-level concourse to food options, lower-level facilities, and students not being seated close to the court. A feasibility study was recently carried out by the department to explore potential refurbishment possibilities.
Goetz: “It is hard to see how it could be an excellent venue for two sports but not the other. So, I am not sure if that is a query about the facility. It is forty years old. After forty years, we all need a little love. I am positive about that. It was undoubtedly designed in a somewhat different era, and I believe that to be a crucial facilities project for us. Not in the sense of an arms race; we certainly want it to be gorgeous and among the finest in the Big Ten, but that is not what this is about. This concerns how to ensure that our facilities serve both our student-athletes and our supporters to the best of their abilities.
“A piece of the puzzle is trying to find some more restrooms on the court level. In addition to that, one of our concepts is to put in a premium club space that would be in the main stands. You’d actually have another elevator stop to that floor, there’d be restrooms in the club, which now pulls all of those that would be in that seating area who have club access.”
There are obstacles in the way of getting the kids near to the floor. These are the best seats in the arena, and many of them are frequently occupied by donors.
Goetz: “You want to continue serving your devoted supporters and funders. You want to create an atmosphere and make the venue seem great. However, just because the students’ portion is toward the bottom does not indicate that they will appear. This is the reason you need to truly dive in, determine what the issue is, and gather input from all parties. As a result, when you relocate them down, they perceive difficulty reaching this location. That will not really alter, though.
“It’s a needed project. It impacts multiple sports. I think at the end of the day if we can generate some philanthropic support to move forward there, it’ll really service all of those people.”
(Top photo: Lily Smith / The Register-USA Today)