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Win or lose later today to #1 seed Oklahoma, the #10 seed Florida State Seminoles have once again impressed college softball fans who love to root for the underdog.
Sure, it was James Madison, led by the dynamic two-way play of Odicci Alexander, who captured the hearts of the sports world for her inspired play in leading the unseeded Dukes as far as she did, but for the second time in four years Head Coach Lonni Alameda and her inspired troops have made play after play to get much further than almost everyone thought they would be: one game away from another National Title!
The caliber of play on the field has been amazing in the Championship Series, but also throughout the Women’s College World Series and even since Day 1 of the start of the playoffs.
And people are noticing.
Check out these analytics as released by ESPN yesterday:
🚨 #WCWS Championship Series Boasts Best Game 1⃣ Audience on Record 🚨
🥎 @FSU_Softball 🆚 @OU_Softball Game 1⃣ registered 𝟭,𝟴𝟲𝟮,𝟬𝟬𝟬 avg. viewers | 🆙 37% over 2019's Game 1⃣
🥎 Audience peaked at 2.2M viewers from 10-10:15p ETGame 2⃣: Tonight | 7p ET | ESPN, ESPN App pic.twitter.com/5WALkQnxzi
— ESPN PR (@ESPNPR) June 9, 2021
Let that soak in for a minute: the Game 1 win of Florida State on Tuesday peaked at 2.2 million viewers and had the highest number of viewers EVER for the first game of the Championship Series, up 37% from two years ago when UCLA played Oklahoma.
Is there any doubt that the sport is growing, at least in viewership on TV?
I look back four years ago to when Florida State won the title and believe it was a pivotal moment, because–like with James Madison this year–it showed that ANYBODY could be Cinderella and wear the glass slipper! Sure, the Oklahoma’s, UCLA’s and Alabama’s are going to be there more often than not, but the James Madison Dukes and the Florida State Seminoles can too!
The Noles championship in 2018 was sosignificant for the sport (in my opinion) that I ranked it the #4 story of that year… below are some excerpts from that write-up….
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The Top 15 Softball Stories of 2018: #4… Jesse Warren-Led Florida State Makes National Splash
Originally published Dec. 28, 2021 on Extra Inning Softball
If you haven’t noticed, ESPN loves the Women’s College World Series and college softball in general.
A vast array of resources–supposedly a crew of 200–were allocated to the 2018 WCWS and, once again, the network got its money’s worth.
Not only was the National Championship the first in Florida State’s history, it was the first ever for an ACC school and despite being a two-game sweep for the Seminoles, it showed why the sport is, according to some sources, the fastest growing sport for ESPN.
I worked for the Worldwide Leader of Sports from 2009 to 2012 and when I was there, the WCWS would have higher TV rankings than NHL playoff games and was the third biggest college property (ratings-wise) after the football bowl games and men’s basketball during March Madness.
Even now, the women’s college World Series draws about 30 percent higher than the men’s baseball World Series.
So imagine how happy ESPN is when last year it got a 17-inning instant classic in Game 1 of the WCWS that would be decided by a Shay Knighten three-run home run for Oklahoma in a series it would win over Florida:
Shay Knighten's three-run 💣 in the top of the 17th won it for @OU_Softball! #WCWS pic.twitter.com/uDhsQhA4nT
— NCAA Softball (@NCAAsoftball) June 6, 2017
And then this year, one of the greatest catches in World Series history: a diving infield grab by Jesse Warren that would make all the highlight reels, helped clinch Game 1 for FSU as it would go on to beat Washington the next day for the title.
ESPN did a nice recap clip of Game 1 which drew a lot of attention for the right reasons: a big home run by Anna Shelnut, the amazing grab by Jesse Warren and the dominant shutdown pitching of Meghan King who was a major reason why, despite Jessica Mendoza’s prediction of the series going three games, it was a sweep by Florida State:
What was great about the FSU championship is it showed that softball is a great sport for players and fans, especially on TV.
It gave hope to any team in the NCAA playoffs that it too can win and break through.
Florida State was the #6 seed and with Oregon, Florida, Oklahoma and UCLA being the top four and Washington being a favorite as well (all have won WCWS titles other than the Ducks) few–other than FSU fans, perhaps–were thinking it would be a new team taking home the crown but that’s what made it so thrilling, the Noles got hot at the right time, the key players delivered and everything came together.
As Justin McLeod of Justin’s World of Softball said, “It was a classic Cinderella story where midnight hit and nobody turned back into a pumpkin!
The stat that jumped out at me was in Game 2 when the graphic was shown on ESPN that every Florida Starter starter got on base at least once in the game-deciding game. That’s a clutch team ceffort.
And the series was a perfect example of why softball is a great TV sport and continues to bring in fans. As Tennessee co-head coach Karen Weekly said in an interview we posted earlier today: “In the area of TV, it’s better than it’s ever been and we have to make sure it continues to be a great game for people watching on TV and the players involved.”
Mission accomplished, certainly for this year.
— Brentt Eads, Extra Inning Softball
Below are some other stories we did around the Florida State National Championship….
