Fair Play?

In its last game of the season, the first round of the Final Four in San Antonio, the women's basketball team played in front of a packed Alamodome of 29,619 people.

It was the first time all season that attendance to watch a single game of Duke women's basketball had capped more than 10,000 people--or even the 9,314 people required to fill Cameron Indoor Stadium.

In the Eastern Regional finals the week before in Raleigh, 8,107 people showed up. For the Sweet 16, there were 4,613 fans. In the first two rounds of the tournament combined, which were held in Cameron, about 10,789 came.

In short, for the four games played in the Triangle, the Blue Devils, who ended the year ranked third in The Associated Press poll, played in front of a total of 23,518.

The top-ranked men's basketball team topped that four-day total in one game, its final one against Indiana, drawing 23,600 to Rupp Arena in Lexington, Ky. During the year, it averaged a sellout at home, and on the road, it almost always drew as many as the arena would hold.

"For our men, besides academics, their number one selling point is the Cameron Crazies, because players want to play in that atmosphere," women's basketball coach Gail Goestenkors says. "I think it should be a great selling point for us as well, and I do sell the Cameron Crazies, because the students and other fans who do come out and support us are tremendous. But it's not the same type of atmosphere yet."

It might not be the same type of atmosphere, but Duke's women's basketball program, which has reached national prominence, has an attendance record much lower than its peer programs, despite the fact that it eclipses the national average.

Although none of the other women's Final Four programs had stellar attendance at their regional games, none were playing as close to home as the Blue Devils. Tennessee was in Iowa, but still managed to gather over 16,000 fans for two games.

Although they don't have their own brand of Cameron Crazies yet, many Duke fans are disappointed that the women's basketball team does not get more support.

Professor of the Practice of Rhetoric George Gopen, a season ticket-holder for two years, says he was upset that no one went to send off or welcome back the Blue Devils on their way to San Antonio, especially since the men's season was over.

"The men will always overshadow the women as long as they are a top-10 program," says Gopen, who got interested in women's team when he realized how expensive men's tickets were. "I'm not saying we should go watch women because it's time that women should be watched. I'm saying our team now is so exciting and so resourceful and playing so to the limit of what they can do that it is fabulous to watch."

Many women's sports, aside from basketball, have problems garnering the same crowds as their male counterparts. While there has been a recent push for the advancement of women's sports in the United States--most notably with the establishment of the Women's National Basketball Association, the creation of the Women's United Soccer Association and the rise of many prominent Americans on the Women's Tennis Association Tour--attendance numbers at Duke have not shown a drastic increase.

Women's tennis coach Jamie Ashworth says filling the stands of the newly built Ambler Stadium is a problem as well. He says the team's biggest attendance days come when it give away food or prizes to fans. However, he says building the new stadium has increased attendance and that it should only increase with time.

Ashworth says he does not know whether there is a difference in attendance between men's and women's tennis matches, but says he could see a difference when the schools play big games.

"For all the big matches, like when we play teams that are top 10 in the country, I think you see a noticeable difference in attendance," he says. "I'd say we've had 150 or 200 people for some matches, and that's something that, in our old facility, we never had. Hopefully we can build on that as the years go by."

Women's soccer coach Robbie Church, who came to Duke from Vanderbilt, says he feels attendance has improved significantly, despite the fact that it is still lower at women's games than at men's. Church attributes this to tradition, since the men have won a national championship and made multiple Final Fours.

"I found a big difference [in attendance] between Duke and Vanderbilt in that it was up here," Church says. "This is a great women's soccer area, though, between Duke and North Carolina and the Carolina Courage [the WUSA team that plays in Cary]."

Down the road in Chapel Hill, the women's soccer team frequently draws at least 2,000 people, sometimes selling out Fetzer Field. However, the Tar Heels have a women's soccer legacy, winning 16 national championships and producing, most notably, U.S. national star Mia Hamm.

During this year's NCAA Tournament, the women lost in the final, but the men won the national championship. In their final home game, which was the third round of the NCAA Tournament, the men attracted just over 1,200 people, a far cry from Tar Heel women's soccer attendance.

"With 16 NCAA championships, that is one of those perks," Church says. "We need to get up to that level, and if we do, I think we would have that following too."

Church also notes that women's soccer has been on the rise since the United States won the World Cup. He says Duke's numbers have been up as well, and will only get better.

"There have been huge strides in the last three or four years, and I think with the World Cup--both on the men's side this summer and then the women's--it will only continue to grow," he says.

Despite the fact that many women's sports are still growing, coaches say they would like to see a change in attendance they feel is in line with the growth.

Duke Director of Athletics Joe Alleva says since the start of his tenure, Duke has increased women's scholarships by 40, thus hopefully increasing the level of play.

"I think the fan support for spring sports is really pretty bad," he says, adding that poor attendance levels for spring sports is not a phenomenon unique to Duke. "We have terrific lacrosse programs, we have terrific golf programs, we have terrific tennis programs and now one of the best tennis venues in the country.... It's too bad that more people don't come out and watch them because they are spectacular."

Whatever the reason for lack of attendance at women's sports, almost everyone in the field is optimistic it will grow. Although Goestenkors says she does not have a reason for why attendance for her team's games has not increased significantly, she says there is little she can do except keep striving for it to improve. That, for her, has included working to get the team's name out to the surrounding community as well.

"I think once students come out and see us play, they see how exciting our game is," she says. "We are very involved in GWIS, which is Girls and Women in Sport, which is a non-profit organization. We think it's very worthwhile because we want to have a positive impact on the youth, and also they get excited about Duke women's basketball and will hopefully grow up becoming fans of our program."

Craig Saperstein and Tyler Rosen contributed to this story.