No Caitlin Clark? No problem -- at least when it comes to season tickets for Iowa women's basketball for the 2024-25 season.
On Wednesday, The Iowa athletic department announced that season tickets for the upcoming season were sold out, a little over a month before the new season tips off in an exhibition against Missouri Western (Wednesday, October 30).
This season ticket sellout is the second consecutive sellout for Iowa women's basketball; the university announced a sellout of its allotment of season tickets for women's basketball in August last year.
The Iowa women's basketball programs is in the midst of a record-breaking run of success; the Hawkeyes have won three consecutive Big Ten Tournament championships and appeared in back-to-back NCAA Championship games.
Of course, the primary architects of that success -- head coach Lisa Bluder, superstar Caitlin Clark, and super-seniors Kate Martin and Gabbie Marshall -- have departed; the Hawkeye team of 2024-25 will not resemble the team that captivated Iowa fans (and the college basketball world) over the last few seasons.
Last year's season ticket sellout came as little surprise; it was an expected outcome after the meteoric rise of Clark and the Iowa team during their run to the 2022-23 national championship game. The Hawkeyes had produced huge attendance numbers and record-shattering TV audiences during that run and it was clear that the final ride of Clark and that Iowa team would be a must-see affair in 2023-24.
This year's sellout was less of a sure thing, since it comes with the Hawkeye program in a transformational phase and with the once-in-a-lifetime phenomenon that was Caitlin Clark off to the WNBA.
Indeed, the announcement acts as an emphatic early victory for new head coach Jan Jensen and her new-look Hawkeye team, led by returning weapons Hannah Stuelke and Sydney Affolter, transfer star Lucy Olsen, and a host of new faces.
This season's sellout also makes a strong statement for the power of the Iowa women's basketball brand, even without such prominent figures involved. That brand was strong before Clark ever donned a Hawkeye jersey -- Iowa ranked in the top 10 in national attendance in 2019, before Clark began her Iowa career -- and it remains strong even after she obliterated the NCAA's record books and went pro.
Fans can get a first look at the 2024-25 Iowa women's basketball team at the Hawkeyes From Downtown event from 4-6 PM CT on October 11 on the corner of Clinton Street and Iowa Avenue in downtown Iowa City. Members of the Iowa women's basketball team will be there interacting with fans and competing in head-to-head contests. The event will also feature members of the Iowa men's basketball team and Iowa women's wrestling team.
The first on-court opportunity for fans to see this year's Iowa women's basketball team will be against Missouri Western in an exhibition on Wednesday, October 30. The 2024-25 season officially opens against Northern Illinois on Wednesday, November 6.
