Photo Credit: Derrick Tuskan/UC San Diego Athletics

• Since UC San Diego’s elevation to a Division I sports program, they have found tremendous success in men’s and women’s basketball.
• Despite equal, if not greater success, the women’s team has struggled to match the men’s increases in interest and attendance.
• UC San Diego has partnered with Women’s Sports Xcelerator, and engaged with the community to grow fandom for UC San Diego women’s sports.

Women’s team Head Coach Heidi VanDerveer’s squad also won the Big West Tournament during those first two years of eligibility in 2025 and 2026. Since transitioning to Division I in 2020, the men’s basketball program has seen a steady rise in attendance. Despite successful campaigns, the women’s basketball program’s attendance has remained stagnant in comparison.

Attendance is one of the primary metrics for gauging the success of an athletic program from a marketing perspective, according to UCSD’s associate athletics director for marketing and NIL strategy, Todd Greenbaum.

“It’s easy to say the best marketing is winning, and that is true, but we’re like ‘why is it that our men’s team win and now we have 1,000 more people at the games than we used to, and our women’s team is winning, and we have 100 more people at the game?’” Greenbaum says. “They’re two-time defending champions - that’s pretty incredible. So how do we tell the story about how this is the best basketball program in San Diego?”

Despite successful campaigns, the women’s basketball program’s attendance has remained stagnant in comparison

The disparity in attendance was one of the problems Greenbaum and the marketing team focused on over the summer, which led them to begin working with Women’s Sports Xcelerator – a company that helps grow women’s college sports programs.

WSX’s goal is simple: to get more fans to women’s sporting events. They work to accomplish this by deploying a grassroots marketing strategy that aims to build interest in local communities, which involves connecting with the youth sports community and partnering with local school districts.

“A big part of how fandom is formed is kind of through your formative years,” says Kari Mills, founder of WSX. “We know if we can get these kids to games and experience women’s sports, the more likely they are to become lifelong fans.”

In addition to getting fans in seats, another goal that UCSD and WSX share is to increase the visibility of their women’s sports programs by hosting local events for existing fans and potentially new fans to get involved in.

One of Us Bar, a women’s sports bar in San Diego, hosted a coaches panel last week featuring VanDerveer and the University of San Diego women’s basketball head coach, Blanche Alverson. The panel provided fans with an opportunity to learn about the programs and preview the season opener before the teams face off in the National University Bill Walton Classic on Nov. 7.

“One of the things specifically about the women’s sports fans is that a lot of them are new, so it’s a growing base,” Mills says. “Being able to capture them at the women’s sports bar and places like that to then get them to the games is really taking the excitement and attention that the WNBA and women’s sports in general get, and then transitioning that into a more local attendance.”

The collaboration between crosstown rivals represents a goal that is shared among the cluster of Division I schools in the area, including UCSD, USD and San Diego State. Tight communities of athletic administrators collaborate and share best practices because growing interest in women’s sports benefits everyone.

“I think there’s a collective feeling that a rising tide raises all boats,” says Greenbaum. “We’re competitive on the court, but off the court, we want to see everyone succeed.”

Earlier this month, the UCSD men’s and women’s basketball programs visited a local YMCA to teach a youth clinic. It was an impactful experience for the kids who were there, the importance of events like that reach beyond the kids in the gym. By hosting these sorts of clinics and posting pictures on social media, the team becomes a tangible part of the community that potential fans can engage with.

Social media has been a powerful tool that has helped amplify UCSD’s presence in the community and increase their visibility. It also serves as a key measure of whether the marketing efforts are successful.

The women’s basketball team had around 4 million impressions last year across platforms including Facebook, Instagram, and X. An impression is counted every time a piece of content shows up in someone’s feed.

UCSD’s goal for this year is 7 million impressions across platforms, with a special focus being placed on sharing their athlete’s stories.

To tell their athletes’ stories more effectively, UCSD partnered with Her Sports San Diego, a media outlet that exclusively covers San Diego professional and collegiate women’s sports.

UCSD athletes, coaches, and teams have been featured in profiles in addition to the athletes appearing as guests on Her Sports San Diego’s podcast, “The Athlete’s Commute.”

On “The Athlete’s Commute,” each guest is picked up on the way to training and shares an inside look at their personality through a candid, on-the-road conversation. The conversation takes fans beyond the game, allowing them to learn more about an athlete’s personal journey, experiences, and aspirations.

“That’s been our big call to action this year,” Greenbaum says. “How are we going to be the best storytellers that we can be to put these women out there both on social media and in the community and get them in front of families and people that want to support women’s sports?”