“Total BS”: Volleyball Fans Outrage As NCAA Championships Broadcasting Fails To Fulfill Expectations

The volleyball community sure believes in saving the best for the last. No wonder they’re focused on ending 2024 on a high note with a December full of volleyball action. But, shortly after the NCAA Championships have been flagged open on December 5, fans are starting to voice their concerns just as much as their excitement.

The two most important elements that can make or break a game are its broadcast and commentary. However, volleyball enthusiasts feel that ESPN has missed the mark in both these areas ahead of the all-important 64-team NCAA tournament. Let’s take a closer look at what they are saying.

ESPN’s NCAA Championships broadcast rights

As per official announcements, the ESPN platforms were handed the rights to exclusively air each point of the 2024 NCAA Division I Women’s Volleyball Championship, scheduled between December 5 and 22. Thanks to this, ESPN+ has been solely covering the First and Second Rounds (December 5-7) of the tournament, whereas the Regional ones (December 12-15) are to air on ABC, ESPN, and ESPN2.

As the NCAA Championships season proceeds, the National Semifinals (Dec. 19) can be viewed on ESPN, while the ultimate game is slated to air on ABC for the second straight season, 3 p.m., on December 3. Amid all this, there’s one glaring issue that stands out and that is the heavy reliance on ESPN as the exclusive streaming platform, leaving viewers with virtually no alternatives.

And the worst part? The coverage is not included in the free plan. Yes! If they wish to tune into the NCAA Championships action, volleyball fans must subscribe to a premium subscription to catch the action. This setup has struck a nerve with many, as viewers feel sidelined by the lack of accessible options. And while it’s clear that ESPN’s approach prioritizes profitability, the sentiment among fans is that they’re being underserved, with some even finding the games completely out of reach.

Fans call out ESPN’s gaps bluntly

Taking to X, one of the fans has pinpointed the disparity in ESPN’s approach. They wrote, “ESPN: “It’s about high time we elevate women’s sports!” Also ESPN: “Let’s put the women’s NCAA volleyball tournament on ESPN+ so people who already pay for streaming services to watch sports have to subscribe and pay MORE to watch the first 2 rounds!”” They highlight how ESPN sides with the need to give women’s sports a much-needed push but puts up roadblocks when it comes to practically following through.

The issues comes across as highly concerning to fans who know for a fact that the 2024 season has already been the most consumed women’s college volleyball season ever on ESPN Nets. A total of 635M minutes have been watched across the 38 matches on ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, and ESPNU, which is a huge achievement for the broadcaster. Also, this season includes the most-watched regular season match on record for ESPN platforms, with Nebraska-Louisville garnering 684,000 viewers on ABC on Sept. 22.

Thus, with so much demand and profitability, the broadcaster should have made the sport more accessible, not placed it behind hard-to-cross hurdles like premium packages. This leads another fan to chime in with, “I reactivated my ESPN+ subscription for the NCAA Women’s Volleyball tournament since that’s the only way to see the opening rounds. But it’s inexcusable to not have all these matches be accessible without a premium subscription! The viewership numbers are there.”

Had the fan turnout been low, such high prices would have still been justified for the broadcaster to break even. But given how the sport has been witnessing a surge of fans this year, the accessibility compulsions seem uncalled for. Moreover, ESPN recently unveiled statistics that the women’s college volleyball matches have been averaging 140,000 viewers per game—which is a whopping 21% jump compared to last year! Also, the Sunday Selection Show for the NCAA Championships ‘saw the highest audience ever as 268K viewers tuned in to see the 2024 season 64-team bracket being unveiled.

Not only the high-priced broadcasting but also the bizarre commentary during the matches irked the volleyball fans. One of them highlighted the same and said, “Really @espn we have to listen to women’s volleyball announcers from a studio?!? Want to be involved?!? Be involved!! Equality?? Total BS!!” The fact that many viewers even called out the commentators of the match was something really embarrassing for the broadcaster. One of them said, “Hey @espn, please get some commentators that know volleyball. This is hard to listen to.”

Although ESPN has some great pundits covering the volleyball matches say Paul Sunderland, Anne Marie Anderson, Jennifer Hoffman, etc. But fans were clearly unhappy, which shows that somewhere things may be going wrong. In fact, these analysts also host The Fifth Set, the volleyball whip-around show that ESPN holds. But the fans aren’t finding things up to the mark.

Finally, a fan dragged in comparisons with Women’s basketball. They wrote, “The networks scramble at the chance to televise first-round games of NCAA basketball March Madness. Why don’t they televise first-round matches of NCAA volleyball?” Well, the disparity between the sports became clear at this moment. While it’s true that ESPN remains the industry leader in women’s college basketball coverage, fans also have the option to watch games on cable networks like FOX and NBC, which offer more accessibility and are far more audience-friendly.

But when it comes to volleyball, there’s a dearth of options. Do you find the same problem as a fan? And what do you suggest should be the alternative? Let us know below.