Horizon Sports & Experiences (HS&E) and Fox Sports are partnering to launch a Women’s Champions Classic, set to debut early on in the 2024-25 college basketball season.
The inaugural event will take place on Dec. 7 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y., and will feature UConn, Iowa, Tennessee and Louisville in a doubleheader that airs in primetime on Fox. Initial plans for the event are for the Huskies to anchor an annual Women’s Champions Classic, with the three other teams rotating among top women’s programs.
“Interest in women’s sports continues to experience exponential growth and basketball is leading the way with viewership and attendance records continually being set,” David Levy, co-CEO of HS&E, said in a release.
All four programs appearing in the 2024 edition of the Women’s Champions Classic have made the Final Four before, and three are currently inside the AP top 20. Led by reigning National Player of the Year Caitlin Clark—who has an option to return to school in 2024-25 if she uses her bonus Covid year—Iowa is ranked fourth nationally, while UConn is No. 15 and Louisville is No. 18. Tennessee isn’t currently ranked but is tied for second in the SEC and is 15-8 overall.
There has been an annual men’s Champions Classic since 2011, which sees Duke, Kansas, Kentucky and Michigan State face off in a rotating doubleheader. That event is televised on ESPN and has established itself as a premier nonconference event in college basketball.
Fox Sports executive vice president Jordan Bazant called the creation of the Women’s Champions Classic “the next step in Fox Sports’ longstanding commitment to elevating women’s athletics” in a release.
Fox has aired a number of women’s college basketball games this season on its flagship channel, including drawing its largest-ever women’s hoops viewing audience on Super Bowl Sunday, when 1.8 million tuned in to see Nebraska upset Clark’s Hawkeyes. The network also recently introduced a “Caitlin Cam” stream on TikTok that followed the Iowa star on the court during both Sunday’s game and a road matchup against Maryland. If Clark does not return to school for a fifth season, the final regular-season game of her career will be broadcast on Fox on Sunday, March 3, when Iowa hosts Ohio State.
UConn is led by Paige Bueckers and Aaliyah Edwards, both of whom also have the option to return in 2024-25. The Huskies’ 11 national titles are more than any other women’s basketball program, but they have not won it all since 2016.
