Brittany Bumgarner

Marketing the Atlantic Coast Conference Women?s Basketball Tournament: the Past, the Present and the Future of Women's Basketball Brittany Bumgarner

Women's basketball is arguably the most popular women's college sport in the United States. Since the inception of the game, the sport has grown in ways the pioneers could have never imagined. Now, with the emergence of powerhouses like the University of Connecticut, the University of Tennessee and the University of Maryland, women's basketball has come into the limelight. One of the strongest Division I conferences is the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), which includes top twenty-five teams such as Maryland, the University of North Carolina and Duke University. How does one market such talent? What are the most effective methods for filling the stands and making an impression that will keep spectators coming back for more? This study examined the history of women's basketball and how the past has influenced the ways people market and promote the sport, specifically the marketing and promotional techniques used by the ACC for the 2009 women's basketball tournament in Greensboro, North Carolina.