In Celebrating The 50th Anniversary Of Title IX, Start With The ‘Mighty Macs’

They came back to the small campus outside of Philadelphia to celebrate and remember. As the women’s March Madness tournament began, these dynamic trailblazers and their headstrong coach had little idea what women’s basketball might look like in 50 years—all they knew is they wanted to play now and win now.

The Mighty Macs of Immaculata College (now University) were given a hero’s welcome on Friday as they celebrated their amazing legacy. The first collegiate women’s basketball team to win a national championship continues to hold a special place at the small Catholic college on Philadelphia’s Main Line.

Former Head Coach Cathy Rush returned and spoke to the crowd of players, alumni and dignitaries assembled. She recounted the back to back to back national champions they won in 1972, 1973 and 1974. Some of the players from those squads still resonate with today’s basketball fans-Marianne Stanley, former head coach at Old Dominion, University of Pennsylvania, Stanford University and Cal-Berkeley, now in the WNBA as the head coach of the Indiana Fever; Teresa Grentz, the U.S. Olympic Team coach who led her team to the gold medal at the 1992 Olympic Games, and the former head coach at Saint Joseph’s University, the University of Illinois, Rutgers University, and Lafayette College, were two of the headliners who played for Rush.

Even a representative from Hollywood came- producer and director Tim Chambers of the movie “The Mighty Macs” joined the celebration.

Unfortunately, in the late 1970s, Immaculata was adversely impacted by the growth of the women’s game at other larger colleges and universities. A school with only 400 women, they could not compete against bigger, flashier facilities at the University of Maryland, University of Tennessee, and the University of Connecticut, and all could offer athletic scholarships. After a few more appearances in the Final Four, Immaculata faded from the national stage. Rush was elected to the Naismith Hall of Fame; she finished her career with a record of 149-15.

Today, watching the brilliance of Iowa’s Caitlin Clark and the dominance of Aliyah Boston of South Carolina, few would think of women’s basketball as a sport that has taken 50 years to get here. The game is more entertaining than ever; coaches, like Dawn Staley, and Adia Barnes, reflect a new style of coaching, elevating their teams to a higher plane. Of course, the bridge between 50 years ago and today would not be possible if you didn’t include Pat Summitt, Geno Auriemma and Tara VanDerveer along with so many others.

As far as women’s sports has come, the journey is not over. As we saw in the 2021 NCAA Basketball Tournaments, gender equity, the original intent of Title IX, has a very long way to go. It frustrates today’s coaches, players and fans why the game continues to be viewed as “less than” the men’s: from the facilities and travel; to food, lodging and coach’s compensation, women’s basketball has made some progress, but not nearly enough.

The horizon looks brighter; the amount of money pouring into women’s sports at the professional level is a promising indicator of changing times. The WNBA just raised $75 million with plans to “fund marketing, improve digital products and fan outreach to increase revenue”. Carol Stiff, who, as Vice President of women’s sports acquisitions at ESPN, oversaw their growing portfolio of broadcasts featuring women’s NCAA championship events beginning in 1996, left the company to join the team that is launching the Women’s Sports Network, a part of FAST Studios, Called “a global 24/7 streaming network dedicated exclusively to showcasing women’s sports”. She is a part of determine their media strategy; the network will go live in June and will feature storytelling and documentaries as well as live events.

Finding ways to measure how new (and increasingly younger) fans consume women’s sports is job one for Angela Ruggerio, Olympian and CEO of the Sports Innovation Lab. The days of counting viewers on linear and cable television exclusively are long gone; streaming and other social platforms are adding consumers to the women’s game in record numbers, driving corporate partners and advertisers. Ruggerio’s company is creating new ways to measure fan engagement in sports.

This year, the 50^th anniversary of Title IX, we celebrate the trailblazers in women’s sports, of which the ‘Mighty Macs’ are a major player. As Stiff told the podcast “Brand Story”, it’s time to “rewire” our thinking about the potential of women’s sports. Viewership is exploding, and arenas are selling out-there were at least 30 women’s games this year that attracted over 10,000 fans, just in the regular season. And if you only care about the money, there’s this: more money is pouring into women’s sports (and to paying women athletes) than at any time in history.

If you are looking at where to invest, women’s sports is one of the best places right now to put your money. Count on it.