The Women's Basketball Final Four is getting an upgrade, with the NCAA announcing Tuesday that the 2028 edition of the annual competition will move from Indianapolis's Gainbridge Fieldhouse to Lucas Oil Stadium due to surging ticket interest.
"Moving the 2028 Women's Final Four to Lucas Oil Stadium will allow for more access for our fans, and it represents the continued growth of the sport," said Division I women's basketball committee chair Amanda Braun. "With the interest we have seen, holding the Women's Final Four in a larger venue in Indianapolis is a natural next step."
Home to the NFL's Indianapolis Colts, the football stadium will open up approximately 13,000 additional seats for college basketball fans, bringing the total capacity for the 2028 Final Four to 31,000 — nearly double the original WNBA arena's 18,000 seats.
The committee also voted on Monday to continue the tournament's current preliminary-round format through the 2031 Championship, with seeded teams hosting the first two rounds at home followed by super-regional rounds in predetermined host cities — all leading up to the Final Four finale.
"The Women's Final Four continues to sell out, and the public demand for tickets has steadily increased," the NCAA said in a statement.
With sellout crowds across every NCAA Final Four dating back to 2017 — save the COVID-19 restricted 2021 edition — the 2028 move won't just allow more fans to attend, it will also give the governing body a more accurate measure of the true demand for the growing sport at the collegiate level.
Wisconsin volleyball is off to the attendance races, with the No. 7 college squad averaging 8,620 fans per match this season to become this NCAA's best-attended program — narrowly beating Big Ten rival No. 1 Nebraska's 8,602 current average.
Other than the Badgers and Cornhuskers, no other college volleyball team has surpassed 6,000 fans per match this year, but Wisconsin is well on track to surpass even their own dominant attendance history in the sport.
If they finish the season in the top attendance spot, the Badgers will snap a six season streak logging the second-best average crowds per year.
Even more, Wisconsin is on their way to blasting through their program-best mark, set when 7,761 fans per match filled the bleachers in 2022.
The growing demand for Badger volleyball is also translating into significant revenue boosts for school.
"We're really, really excited; we're going to exceed $2 million in volleyball ticket sales for the first time ever," Wisconsin deputy athletic director Mitchell Pinta told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel earlier this week. "And we're largely sold out for the rest of our matches at the Field House for the remainder of the season."
Should the Badgers reach that $2 million mark, they will see a massive 25% increase over the $1.6 million the team garnered just two seasons ago, and a near 18-fold growth from the $111,809 in volleyball ticket sales that Wisconsin logged in 2013.
Ultimately, the sky's the limit for both Wisconsin volleyball — and the sport at-large.
"If there's a saturation point on the demand for Wisconsin volleyball, we certainly have not seen it yet," said Pinta.
How to watch Wisconsin volleyball in action
With conference play kicking off this weekend, No. 7 Wisconsin will host unranked Big Ten foe Rutgers at 8 PM ET on Friday, before paying a visit to also-unranked Iowa at 3 PM ET on Sunday.
Both Big Ten battles will stream live on B1G+.
The 2025 Women's Rugby World Cup culminates on Saturday, when host nation England battles for their first tournament title in more than a decade in a top-tier final against Canada, who are hunting their first-ever world championship trophy.
The Red Roses' long dominance on the Rugby World Cup pitch has led them to eight finals in the competition's nine editions, with England emerging victorious twice — in 1994 and 2014.
On the other hand, Canada will make just their second-ever appearance in the World Cup final this Saturday, as the Maple Leafs aim for a decidedly different outcome from their 21-9 loss to England in the 2014 championship game.
The top-ranked Red Roses will also be looking to avenge their narrow 34-31 loss to New Zealand in the tournament's most recent 2022 edition when they square off against No. 2 Canada in front of an sold-out crowd inside London's Twickenham Stadium — with another women's rugby attendance record on the line.
"You feed off of that energy, especially knowing what this game is going to be," England defense coach Sarah Hunter said. "It's a cliché, but [the crowd] almost becomes the 16th person in those moments where you need them."
How to watch the 2025 Women's Rugby World Cup final
England and Canada will battle in the 2025 Women's Rugby World Cup final at 11 AM ET on Saturday, with live coverage airing on Paramount+.
The 2025 Women's Rugby World Cup is off to the races, setting a new tournament attendance record as 42,723 fans watched top-ranked host nation England claim an opening-day victory over the USA on Friday.
Set inside Sunderland's Stadium of Light, England's Red Roses downed the No. 9 Women's Eagles 69-7 to open the recently expanded 16-team tournament.
"The fans definitely made a statement. You made that one really special," said England full back and Player of the Match Ellie Kildunne after Friday's historic game. "Thank you to everybody that came, having rugby in the North is pretty special as well."
This year's US squad features superstar Ilona Maher as well as several of her fellow rugby sevens Olympic bronze medalists.
"We talk a lot about playing as we can, there were moments out there when we moved the ball really well and we gelled," said Maher following the loss. "I think the hope is that we unlock that and we do that because we have so much potential."
How to watch Team USA at the 2025 Women's Rugby World Cup
On the heels of an opening slate dominated by lopsided scorelines, group-stage play in the 2025 Women's Rugby World Cup will continue through September 7th before the quarterfinals hit the pitch on September 13th.
The USA will be back in action this Saturday, kicking off against No. 7 Australia at 2:30 PM ET.
Live coverage of all tournament games will stream on Paramount+.
The NWSL lit up the baseball diamond on Saturday, claiming a new attendance record as the No. 2 Washington Spirit defeated No. 12 Bay FC 3-2 in MLB's Oracle Park in San Francisco.
The 40,091-strong crowd not only shattered the prior NWSL record, when 35,038 fans watched Bay beat Chicago inside Wrigley Field in June 2024, Saturday also set a new attendance mark across all US professional women's sports leagues.
"The players deserve it. They've worked so hard and this league has come such a long way," Bay FC head coach Albertin Montoya said following the historic loss. "When you get football like that, I think every single person that watched that game can leave and say 'Hey, I'd do this again,' because it was entertaining. It was good quality football all around."
The victory marked the Spirit's sixth road win this season, as Washington climbs the table behind midfielder Croix Bethune's first goal of 2025 — and forward Trinity Rodman's first start since April.
"The atmosphere was fantastic," Spirit manager Adrián González said. "The setup, the fans, and having the opportunity to have an experience like this, I think, is just something unique."
Washington now sits 12 points behind league-leaders Kansas City, while just six points separate the Spirit from No. 7 Racing Louisville in an increasingly congested top of the NWSL standings.
The 2025 Women's Rugby World Cup has arrived, as top-ranked host nation England takes on world No. 10 USA to kick off pool play in the 10th edition of the international competition on Friday afternoon.
Featuring rugby superstar Ilona Maher alongside several of her fellow 2024 Olympic bronze medalists, the Women's Eagles will battle in the group stage through September 6th, looking to first secure a spot in the mid-September quarterfinals before aiming for their first World Cup title since winning the inaugural 1991 tournament.
After expanding from 12 to 16 teams this year, the 2025 Women's Rugby World Cup is gearing up to be the biggest edition of the international 15s tournament on record, with over 40,000 tickets already sold for Friday's blockbuster opening matchup.
However, Maher and the US have a steep hill climb in Pool A, with the US set to first tackle two-time champion England before facing No. 6 Australia and No. 15 Samoa over the next two weeks.
"Our focus for the first match of the [World Cup] is very much on ourselves and executing our game plan to put pressure on England," said USA head coach Sione Fukofuka. "We know they have big external expectations on them… so we are quietly going about our work, building confidence, and looking forward to performing."
Meanwhile, reigning champions No. 3 New Zealand will start hunting their seventh overall and third straight World Cup title in Pool C against the likes of No. 5 Ireland, No. 11 Japan, and No. 13 Spain.
Taking on Pool B leaders No. 2 Canada will be No. 8 Scotland, No. 9 Wales, and No. 14 Fiji, while tournament underdogs No. 25 Brazil will face an uphill climb in Pool D against No. 4 France, No. 7 Italy, and No. 12 South Africa.
How to watch Team USA in the 2025 Women's Rugby World Cup
The No. 10 USA Women's Eagles will open their 2025 Rugby World Cup campaign against world No. 1 England at 2:30 PM ET on Friday.
Live coverage of all tournament games will stream on Paramount+.
Following the NWSL attendance record set by Chicago at the historic Wrigley Field in June 2024, Bay FC will gear up to best the Stars' title during this weekend's clash inside another MLB stadium — the San Francisco Giants' Oracle Park.
With over 35,000 tickets already sold, Bay will officially claim the league's single-game attendance record when the No. 11 NWSL club hosts the No. 4 Washington Spirit on Saturday, topping the 35,038 fans who showed up in Chicago last summer.
With a capacity of 40,260 seats, Saturday's match could significantly surpass that June 2024 mark.
The game will also set the attendance record for all US professional women's sports leagues.
"This is a landmark moment not just for Bay FC or the NWSL, but for the future of women's professional sports in the United States," said NWSL commissioner Jessica Berman in a statement. "Breaking the league's single-match attendance record at a venue as iconic as Oracle Park is a testament to the growing demand, passion, and momentum behind our league."
Reflecting the continued growth of the NWSL, the six most-attended matches in league history have occurred in the last four seasons, with markets like San Diego, Seattle, and Chicago all reaching new heights.
"This is about more than just a match, it is about pushing boundaries and creating something bigger than ourselves," noted Bay FC CEO Brady Stewart. "Everyone who is at Oracle Park [on] Saturday has the chance to be part of history and together show the world what's possible in women's sports."
With one last match remaining, the 2025 UEFA Women's Euro has already become the most-attended edition in tournament history, bursting through the 600,000-fan attendance mark during the first match of this week's semifinal round.
That Tuesday mark officially surpassed the previous tournament record attendance of 574,875 fans, set during the 2022 edition in England.
Exceeding event organizers' predictions, Switzerland's iteration is currently on track to become the first Women's Euro to see average crowds of over 20,000 fans per match — a mark made even more impressive by the fact that half of the eight 2025 venues have capacities well under 17,000 seats.
Along with the competition's record-smashing attendance, global TV viewership of the 2025 Euro has also boomed, with live coverage reaching new highs both in Europe and abroad.
A peak of 10.2 million UK viewers tuned in to see the defending champion Lionesses defeat Italy in their semifinal on Tuesday, delivering broadcaster ITV their largest audience of 2025 so far.
US broadcaster Fox Sports is also seeing historic numbers from the company's history-making media deal, with US viewership continuing to climb.
With an average of 925,000 US viewers tuning in to see Germany advance past France in last week's quarterfinal, Fox is already gearing up for an even better turnout for Sunday's grand finale.
How to watch the 2025 Euro final
World No. 2 Spain will take on No. 5 England in the 2025 Euro final at 12 PM ET on Sunday, airing live on Fox.
With one-third of the group stage left to play, the 2025 Euro has already shattered tournament records in both attendance and viewership.
The crowds in Switzerland broke the women's European Championship group-stage attendance record with a combined 287,438 fans packing stadiums through the first two matchdays — with four more days and eight games left before the knockouts.
Plus, this year's Euro has smashed the record attendance for a match not featuring the host nation — and done it twice.
First, No. 2 Spain's 5-0 opening win over No 22 Portugal set a new mark with a crowd of 29,520 in Bern on July 3rd, before No. 3 Germany's 2-1 defeat of No. 12 Denmark blasted that record when 34,165 fans packed Basel's St. Jakob-Park on Tuesday.
Attendance has already surpassed the final combined total of every previous edition except the 2022 tournament, with this year on track to fell host England's mark, as well.
This year's crowds are even more impressive considering Switzerland's venues are significantly smaller than many used in England's edition, with London's 90,000-seat Wembley Stadium — the site of the 2022 final — dwarfing the 34,250 capacity of the largest Swiss venue.
Even outside of Europe, the continental championship is making history.
Boosted by the first-ever non-cable Euro media deal in the US, the tournament earned its best-ever group-stage, English-language viewership in the States this week, with Fox platforms reporting that the the first 10 2025 matches saw a 123% increase over the 2022 edition.
Even more, No. 10 France's 2-1 opening win over defending champions No. 5 England garnered 690,000 viewers on Saturday, blasting the previous average first-round viewership by an astounding 329% to become the most-watched English-language group-stage Euro match in US broadcast history.
With historic attendance and viewership, the sky's the limit for the 2025 Euro.
UEFA's 2025 Euro tournament is already knocking on the door of history, as the European Championship is on track to shatter the competition's overall attendance record — despite not kicking off until next week.
This year's Switzerland-hosted edition has sold more than 570,000 of the 673,000 tickets available as of Thursday.
Given that tally, England's 2022 Euro record of 574,875 is likely to fall in the coming days.
In addition to the tickets already on sale, stadiums will release another 32,000 to accommodate the knockout stages in the coming weeks.
While Switzerland is poised to claim the Euro's total attendance title by the competition's July 27th finale, England's single-game record crowd of 87,192 — set at the 2022 championship match — will be safe, as no Swiss venue matches the capacity of London's iconic Wembley Stadium.
The 2025 Euro final will be a much more elite affair, as only 34,250 seats are available at Basel's St. Jakob-Park — the largest of the tournament's eight venues.
That said, this summer's European Championship will have more eyes on it than ever before, and not just from the stands.
The 2022 edition shattered viewership records worldwide, but the 2025 Euro has a chance to level up even more, as the tournament has seen its global broadcast footprint expand — particularly in the US.
UEFA inked a media deal with Fox Sports in late May, ensuring that audiences Stateside will have live access to at least 20 of the Euro's 31 matches next month.
While the overall tournament chases new attendance and viewership records, the 16 teams bound for Switzerland will be battling toward the 2025 Euro trophy when the competition kicks off next Wednesday.