On five Friday nights each year, Exactech Arena is the place to be for fans of the UF gymnastics team. (Photo: Zach Marshall/UAA Communications)
Carter's Corner: Gators Gymnastics Indicative of Rising Interest in Sport
Thursday, January 9, 2020 | Gymnastics, Scott Carter
Share:
By: Scott Carter, Senior Writer
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Jenny Rowland is set to open her fifth season as head coach of the Florida gymnastics team Friday night. The scene is an easy one to picture if you have attended a Gators' meet over the past decade.
If not, you might be awestruck.
A packed house at the O'Dome. Flashy intros. Screaming fans. High-flying performances. All the ingredients that make NCAA women's gymnastics a popular draw at the ticket office and on TV.
In other words, nothing like the days when Rowland was an All-American on the uneven bars at Arizona State in the early 1990s.
"There's no comparison,'' Rowland said Thursday. "People know what gymnastics is. They know names. They know athletes. They know the events. They know skills. It's crazy."
The sport's appeal will be on full display Friday when the Gators, ranked No. 3 in the preseason, host Southeastern Conference rival Arkansas. Further proof of the sport's growth at the collegiate level in recent years arrived in November when ESPN announced that the NCAA Finals on April 18 in Fort Worth, Texas, will be broadcast live on ABC.
It marks the first time the NCAA Finals will be shown live on one of the three major networks. For perspective, they were shown tape-delayed on CBS 28 days after team final as recently as 2011. From 2012-15, they were shown via live stream on ESPN3, and since 2016 live on ESPNU.
"The more people that can see it the better,'' Gators sophomore Trinity Thomas said. "It's great. We love gymnastics and we want the people to be able to see the passion for the sport and what we do."
Graphic: ESPN PR via WashingtonPost.com.
NCAA women's gymnastics has trended upward since the debut of the SEC Network in August 2014 and the launch of its "Friday Night Heights' franchise. Meanwhile, ESPN's increased appetite for the sport provided a huge boost too.
TV ratings soared and those in charge took notice, showcasing the sport more and more on a variety of platforms.
The NCAA also revamped its championship event last year from six teams competing in the final round, which caused some confusion for TV viewers with two teams having a bye during each event, to four teams.
The combination of factors paved the way for the sport to step into an even bigger spotlight in 2020.
"It's so exciting. I really think the evolution of our sport and our postseason, 'Four on the Floor,' has really helped that,'' Rowland said. "It's very fan friendly, TV friendly, and really, the SEC-slash-ESPN has helped evolve our sport and showcase what an amazing product it is. We're very thankful to have been a part of that."
UF's program is coming off a season in which it averaged a school-record 8,333 fans per home meet, which ranked 12th in attendance among all NCAA women's sports programs during the 2018-19 season. Utah gymnastics led the nation with 14,842 and South Carolina's women's basketball (10,406) was the top non-gymnastics team in attendance.
These days, when Rowland is shopping at Target or the grocery store or out to dinner with her family, it's not unusual for fans to recognize her and ask questions about specific gymnasts. Of course, the gymnasts don't know it any other way. They weren't around as the sport struggled to get a foothold.
Now, they relish the energy at the O'Dome on a Friday night.
"It's really indescribable,'' senior Rachel Gowey said. "I was trying to explain the feeling to our freshman Payton [Richards]. You have to experience it yourself."
Same for fans. If you haven't been, you have five chances in 2020, starting Friday.
