2009 ESPN Women's NCAA Final Four Fact Sheet

14th Year of Exclusive Coverage - April 5 and 7 from St. Louis

ESPN’s NCAA Women’s Final Four Coverage

Semifinal # 1                 #3 Louisville vs. #1 Oklahoma (Sun., April 5, at 7 p.m. ET)

Semifinal # 2                 #2 Stanford vs. #1 Connecticut (following semi #1)

National Championship   (Tues., April 7, at 8:30 p.m.)

*Games also available on ESPN360.com

Final Four Storylines                        

• 14th year of exclusive coverage on ESPN; seventh year covering all 63 games;
• All three games will be high-definition telecasts;
• The games and studio shows combined will utilize 17 cameras;
• Tennessee head coach Pat Summitt will join Trey Wingo, Kara Lawson and Carolyn Peck on set at the Scottrade Center during ESPN’s studio coverage of the semifinals on Sunday;
• Prior to joining ESPN, studio host Trey Wingo worked in St. Louis as a sport anchor for KSDK-TV;
• Rebecca Lobo will continue to post “Tweets” on her Twitter page with off-court thoughts about her day-to-day experiences in St. Louis at  http://twitter.com/RebeccaLobo;
• Game play-by-play announcer Mike Patrick will be calling his 14th consecutive Women’s Final Four;
• Through the Elite Eight, total hours viewed of the women's NCAA College Basketball Tournament on ESPN360.com are up 80 percent over the same period last year;
• Visits to women's college basketball content on the ESPN Mobile Web site during the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight of the 2009 Tournament alone are up 187% compared to the same period last year;
• There were 230,000 entries for the Women’s Tournament Challenge, surpassing last year’s 200,000 entries by 15 percent;
• 4.6% (9,105) of the entries predicted Oklahoma to defeat Louisville, while 3.4% (6,752) chose the Cardinals to beat the Sooners; 32.6% (65,154) predicted Connecticut to defeat Stanford, while 3.8% (7,574) selected the Cardinal to beat the Huskies;
• 64.5% (128,825) of the entries picked Connecticut to win the National Championship; 8% (15,986)         chose Oklahoma; 2.8% (5,601) selected Stanford and 0.5% (1,129) picked Louisville.

2008 NCAA Tournament Ratings At-A-Glance

The 2008 tournament was the most-viewed ever on ESPN and ESPN2.  ESPN averaged 1,367,000 homes, up 42 percent (vs. 965,000) with a rating of 1.4, a 40 percent increase from 2007 (vs. 1.0).  ESPN2 saw a 31 percent jump in audience over the previous year (560,000 vs. 427,000), based on a 20 percent increase in ratings (0.6 vs. 0.5).  The three Final Four games averaged 2,531,000 homes, up 28 percent (vs. 1,971,000), based on a rating of 2.6, up 24 percent (vs. 2.1) from 2007 making it the most-viewed since 2004 (2,545,000 households) and highest-rated since 2005 (2.5).  The semifinals delivered a 2.4 rating (up 20% vs. 2007) with viewership of 2,349,000 households (up 25% vs. 2007).

ESPN Final Four Commentators

Play-by-Play                                        

Mike Patrick – Patrick has been the play-by-play voice for the Women’s Final Four since ESPN began covering it in 1996.  He has called a variety of events, including the NCAA College World Series, men's basketball and college football.

Game Analyst                                    

Doris Burke – For her fourth year, Burke will serve as the game analyst for the Women's Final Four on ESPN. Burke has grown to become one of the network's most versatile basketball commentators, calling both men's and women's college and pro contests. 

Game Reporters                              

Rebecca Lobo and Holly Rowe – Lobo, a member of the 1995 Connecticut championship team, is in her second year as a sideline reporter for the Women’s Final Four. Rowe is one of ESPN’s top reporters whose experience includes football, basketball, and other sports. 

Studio Host (on-site)                            

Trey Wingo – A fourth-year host, Wingo also hosts ESPN's NFL Live and is heavily involved with ESPN's NFL Draft coverage.  Wingo came to ESPN from KSDK-TV in St. Louis.

Studio Analysts (on-site)                  

Kara Lawson and Carolyn Peck – Third-year studio analyst Lawson, a former Lady Vol who played on three Final Four teams, also serves as a sideline reporter for ESPN’s coverage of the NBA and is a member of the WNBA’s Sacramento Monarchs. Peck is a first-year studio analyst for ESPN’s NCAA Women’s College Basketball Championship coverage. She returned to ESPN in 2007 as a basketball analyst for women's college basketball and the WNBA. Peck led the Purdue Boliermakers to an NCAA National Championship victory in 1999.

SportsCenter Reporter (on-site)         

Bob Holtzman – Holtzman serves as a bureau reporter, primarily reporting stories that are featured on SportsCenter, Outside the Lines, Baseball Tonight, NFL and NBA shows, ESPNEWS and others.

ESPN Multi-Platform Coverage

ESPNEWS   

The nation’s only 24-hour sports news network will provide pre-game and post-game news conferences, pre-game and post-game live shots as well as interviews with key players and coaches.

ESPN.com                                           

Online content will be highlighted by analysis from Rebecca Lobo, as well as in-game fan polls, chats, video highlights and features and additional coverage on ESPNU.com provided by ESPN.com contributors Mechelle Voepel, Graham Hays and Charlie Creme.

ESPN360.com                                     

ESPN360.com – ESPN’s broadband digital sports television network – will simulcast ESPN’s coverage of the semifinal and championship games.

ESPN Mobile TV                                 

ESPN Mobile TV, ESPN’s first 24/7 channel for wireless platforms, will offer the National Semifinals on tape delay at 11 p.m. and 1 a.m., respectively, while the National Championship contest will be available live. NCAA Women’s Championship content, such as scores and updates, will also be available.                                                                          

ESPN Radio                                        

ESPN Radio will provide live score updates on its “SportsCenter” reports during the Women’s Final Four, and present interviews with potential newsmakers in St. Louis during regularly scheduled studio programming. 

ESPN International                              

ESPN International will provide coverage of the National Semifinal games along with the National Championship to fans on ESPN in Latin America, ESPN Africa, ESPN Middle East, ESPN Pac Rim, ESPN Australia HD, ESPN Brazil, and ESPN America (Europe).

Final Four Specials                         

2009 NCAA Women’s Final Four Special: This 30-minute Women’s Final Four preview show from St. Louis will precede the National Semifinals on Sunday, April 5, at 6:30 p.m. on ESPN.

2009 NCAA Women’s Championship Special: ESPN will begin its Tuesday championship coverage on April 7 at 7:30 p.m. with an hour-long preview from St. Louis leading into the National Championship game.

Both specials will be hosted by Wingo, Lawson and Peck.

Early-Round Whip-Around Coverage a Signature

During the first two rounds, ESPN and ESPN2 presented 48 games within 12 telecast windows in a whip-around format with home market protection.  ESPN FULL COURT – ESPN’s out-of-market pay-per-view package – and ESPN360.com offered complete game telecasts of all 48 games.  In addition, ESPNU provided full national telecasts of six early-round games.

For releases, schedules, photos and more, please visit the Women’s Basketball media kit.

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