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These 86 Analysts Forecast Gold Going As High As $50,000!

Many analysts are projecting that gold will be going at least as high as $3,000/ozt over the next few years. One analyst even claims that gold will spike…

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More and more analysts are projecting that gold will be going at least as high as $3,000/ozt over the next few years. One even claims that gold will spike up to $87,500/ozt.! Below is a revised list of their names and stated rationale for each forecast.

By Lorimer Wilson, editor of munKNEE.com – Your Key To Making Money!

$50,000+ Gold

1. Jim Sinclair: $50,000 in 2025 and to $87,500 by 2032

  • @$In a recent YouTube video Sinclair said that, with so many U.S. Dollars being printed to uphold the economy as a result of COVID-19, that Gold will rise to $50,000/ozt. (i.e. go “straight up” in Sinclair’s words) at the end of the 45-year gold cycle which is coming up in 2025 and rise up to $87,500/ozt. by the end of 2032. Source

2. Hugo Salinas Price: $22,000 – $50,000

  • Price says the current melt-down of the world’s debt bubble is likely to continue in the course of the next months and he believes that the salvaging of all debt and derivatives might require a gold price as high as between $22,000 and $50,000 per ounce. (January 2016) Source

3. Frank Barbera: $20,000 to $50,000 sometime between 2032 and 2037

  •  Barbera sees precious metals making a major low this spring and starting a new secular bull market that could last 10 to 15 years. He sees potential for gold to go as high as $20,000/oz or even $50,000 oz in that period. Source

$25,000 – $35,000 Gold

1. Stephen Leeb: +$35,000 by 2032

  • “I wouldn’t be surprised if everything related to commodities performs even better this time around – albeit with sharper volatility – than in the earlier decade…[and that goes for] my nominal 10-year target of $35,000 [as well].” Source

2. Egon von Greyerz: $35,000

  • I would not be surprised to see a 0.1 [Dow/Gold] ratio. That could lead to 3,500 Dow and $35,000 gold.” (October 2022) Source

3. Erik Lytikainen: $25,000 by 2030

  • @$“We will not be surprised to see $25,000 per troy ounce of gold by the year 2030.  It will likely be a volatile ride higher, with large drawdowns along the way.” Source

4. Martin Armstrong: $25,000

  • “Gold should theoretically sell for $25,000 a troy ounce, given the monetary prolificacy since 1980”…in reference to the ever soaring $3.3 Trillion U.S. budget this year, alone.” (September, 2021) Source 

5. Pierre Lassonde: $25,000 by 2049

  • Pierre Lassonde says gold could hit $25,000 in 30 years (September 2019) Source

 6. Avi Gilburt: $25,000 over the next decade plus

  • “I think the math shows gold futures can, and will, surpass $25,000  over the next decade plus.”(June 2015) Source

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$10,000 – $20,000 Gold

1. Goldrunner: $20,000 between mid-2028 and end of 2029

  • @$“As a result of the recent massive paper money printing, our chart work suggests that gold could possibly spike up to as high as $20,000 per troy ounce – or even a bit higher – some time between mid-2028 and the end of 2029.” Source

2. Leigh Goehring: $10,000-$15,000 by 2027-28

  • “Our target is between $10,000-$15,000 per troy ounce.,,[by] 2027-28.” Source

3.  Briton Hill: $5,000-$20,000 sometime between 2026 and 2031

  • “You can’t produce trillions of dollars with 0% interest rates and not introduce inflation. Long-term, we could be entering a cycle similar to the 1970s, where the precious metal sector rose by thousands of percentage points, and if we see something like that happen again in the next 5-10 years, we could easily see $5,000, $10,000, even $20,000 gold,” he said. “Gold could easily hit $20,000 per troy ounce in the next decade.” Source

4. Peter Schiff: $20,000 IF

  • The value of gold could rise tenfold and hit $20,000 per troy ounce in the event of a collapse of confidence in the US dollar and runaway inflation. (March, 2022) Source

5. Addison Wiggin: $12,000

  • “The gold coverage ratio has risen above 100% twice during 20th century,” most recently at gold’s 1980 peak. “Were this to happen today, the value of an ounce of gold would exceed $12,000.” (October 2012) Source

$10,000 Gold

1. James Rickards: $10,000

  • “$10,000 per troy ounce is not pie in the sky. It’s not a number I pulled out of a hat to get headlines. It’s the actual mathematical implied non-deflationary price of gold.” (March, 2017) Source

2. Daniel Oliver: $10,000

  • “The money to push gold over $10,000 per troy ounce has already been printed and now they are going to print more…No doubt strong fiscal and monetary intervention may extend its life for a time, but then the ultimate price objective for gold will then be markedly higher.” (January, 2020) Source

3. Max Keiser: $10,000

  • To deal with the disaster of “trash fiat money” choking the global economy, a new gold standard will need to be introduced “and to make it work, we will see gold’s price top $10,000 per troy ounce.” (April, 2020) Source

4. Adam O’Dell: $10,000

  • “The price is guaranteed to hit near $10,000/ozt..” (April, 2020) Source

5. AG Thorson: $7,500 – $10,000 by end of 2029

  •  “By the end of this decade, we expect gold to reach $7,500 – $10,000 per troy ounce.” Source

6. Don Durrett: $3,000 to $10,000

  • “My price target for gold is somewhere between $3,000 and $10,000 per troy ounce.” (November, 2019) Source

7. Investors Alley: $3,000 -$10,000/ozt. by 2027

  • Given the current environment of rising inflation, negative real yields, a weaker dollar, and ongoing monetary dilution, gold should rise to $3,000 -$10,000/ozt. in 5 years time. Source

8. David Smith: $10,000

  • “Gold could reach US$10,000 per troy ounce by the end of the bull market.” (June, 2020) Source

9. Bob Kirtley: $10,000

  • “My target has been $10,000/ozt. since June 2006, so at that point, an exit strategy will be executed, hopefully with some handsome profits.” Source:

10. Scott Minerd: $5,000 to $10,000

  • “As chaotic price swings of the crypto world push investors back into gold and silver, the precious metals will start to build momentum, with the ultimate gold price target set at $5,000-$10,000 per troy ounce.” (May, 2021) Source

11. Arthur Hayes: +$10,000

  • He argues that central banks will choose to load up on gold instead of dollars causing gold to rise beyond $10,000/ozt.. (March, 2022) Source

12. Chris Waltzek: $10,000

  • Waltzek maintains that $10,000 gold may merely be the opening salvo of an explosive new bull market for PMs. (February, 2022) Source

13. Jason Hamlin: $10,000

  • “The prospect of 5-digit gold is not so far-fetched. Gold at $10,000 or higher is not as unlikely as many people would think.” (June 2015) Source

14. Albert Edwards: $10,000

  • “We repeat our key forecasts of the S&P Composite to bottom around 450, accompanied by sub-1 percent U.S. 10-year yields and gold above $10,000.” (April 2013) Source

15. Michael Pento: $10,000

  • “It wouldn’t surprise me if gold eventually goes to $10,000 an ounce or even higher because there is no limit to the productive capacity of central bankers to produce currency.  I think it would be more surprising if gold didn’t go to $10,000 an ounce.  When the US dollar loses its world reserve currency status and the US bond market collapse is in full swing, a $10,000 gold price may prove to be very conservative.” (December 2012) Source

16. Nick Barisheff: $10,000

  • “Growing debt levels in the developed world will continue to bolster gold into the foreseeable future, bringing with it the potential for the precious metal to eventually reach $10,000 an ounce.” (January 2012) Source

17. Ron Paul: $10,000

  • “Gold prices could hit $10,000 an ounce if the U.S. doesn’t get its fiscal house in order.”(June 2011) Source

$7,000 -$10,000 Gold

1. Florian Grummes: $8,000 to $9,000 sometime between 2025 and 2030

  • “We could end up having gold at $8,000 to $9,000 per troy ounce in five to 10 years.” Source

2. Ronald-Peter Stoeferle and Mark Valek: $4,800 to $8,900 by 2030

  • “The proprietary valuation model shows a gold price of $4,800/ozt. at the end of this decade, even with conservative calibration. Should money supply growth develop in a similar inflationary manner to that of the 1970s, a gold price of $8,900/ozt. is conceivable by 2030.” Source

3. Graham Summers: $8,000

  • “Gold first rallied about 630% from 2003-2011. It then corrected about 43% before bottoming in 2015 at $1,060/ozt.. If it follows a similar second leg up this time around, it’s going to ~$8,000 per troy ounce before it peaks.” (September, 2020) Source

4. Hubert Moolman: $7,758

  • “In my opinion, it is virtually guaranteed that gold will again catch up with the Dow’s performance since 1913, and significantly surpass it just like in the 70s. This means we will likely see gold reach $7,758/ozt. (in the near future) and eventually go on to reach multiples of that high.” (August, 2020) Source

5. Gov Capital: $5,837 by 2023; $7,220 by 2024; $8,531 by 2025

  • “5 year gold forecast: $8530.74/ozt.” Source

6. Jason Hamlin: $4,000 to $8,000 by 2025

  • “We fully expect to see the gold price close out the year 2025 somewhere between $4,000 and $8,000 per troy ounce.” Source

7. Jeff Clark: $3,000 to $10,000 by 2025

  • “Potential 5-year high: $3,000 to $10,000 per troy ounce.” Source

8. Charlie Morris: $7,166 by the end of 2029

  • “A bullish target of $7,166/ozt. is both logical and plausible.” (December, 2019) Source

9. Mike McGlone: $7,000 by 2025

  • “From 2001-2011, gold advanced about 7.5 times, which if repeated would bring it to around $7,000/ozt. in 2025.” Source

10. Equity Management Academy: $5,500 in 2024

  • “Gold will then hit the delusion phase and in a new paradigm gold will hit $5,500 in 2024. After that high, gold will enter another bull trap and fear will drive gold down below $4,000. Gold will then return to its mean at about $1,500 to $2,000.” Source

11. Chris Vermeulen: $7,400 by 2027  Source

12. Robin Griffiths: $8,000

  • Griffiths says $8,000 gold is not unreasonable because China and India are becoming more dominant and to them, gold is real money. (March, 2011) Source

$4,000 – $7,000 Gold

1. Rob McEwen: $5,000

  • The founder of Goldcorp Inc., McEwen predicts that gold will soar to $5,000 a troy ounce, bolstered by a weaker dollar and waning demand for trendy assets like pot stocks. (January, 2019) Source

2. Victor Dergunov: $5,000 between 2022 and 2024

  • “Gold at $5,000/ozt. in 3-5 years seems plausible, and it is likely to continue to go higher after that.” Source

3. Dan Popescu: $5,000 by 2025 years

  •  “Gold price could break above $5,000/ozt. in the next 5 years.” Source

4. David Morgan: $5,000 before the end of 2029

  •  “Gold could hit $5,000 a troy ounce this decade, especially as the greenback loses purchasing power.” Source

5. Moe Zulfiqar: $5,000 by 2030

  • ” It wouldn’t be shocking to see gold at $5,000 per troy ounce, or more, by 2030. ” Source

6. Brian Whitfield: $5,000 by 2030

  • “I feel I am safe, and being conservative, in saying that gold should be trading between $3000 – $5000 per troy ounce in ten years. Should the U.S. dollar fail and/or the U.S. dollar loses the coveted global reserve currency status and/or even the loss of the petrodollar, gold could hit these level far sooner.” Source

7. Chris Wood: $5,386

  • “The gold price of US$850/ozt. at the peak of the last secular bull market in gold in January 1980 was then equivalent to 9.9% of US disposable income per capita. The gold price is now just 3.6% of US disposable income per capita. Therefore, to reach 9.9% of US disposable income per capita means gold should rise to US$5,386/ozt.. (September, 2020) Source

8. Ole Hansen: $4,000

  • “$4,000/ozt. probably is a little bit far-fetched as the world looks right now, but if you look years into the future, then that is possible because the repercussions of what we’re going through right now with the pandemic and the aftermath is going to be something that’s going to be felt for at least this generation and potentially beyond.” (April, 2020)  Source

9. Geraldo Del Real: $3,000 to $5,000

  • “I actually think $3,000 to $5,000 per troy ounce is very reasonable.” (July, 2019) Source

10. Thomas Kaplan: $3,000 to $5,000 by 2030

  • “Gold prices could rally as high as $3,000 to $5,000 per troy ounce within a decade.” Source

11. David Rosenberg: $3,000 to $5,000

  • “A $3,000 to $5,000 per troy ounce target.is fundamentally justified based on the facts we have today.” (August, 2019) Source

12. Gary Christenson: $5,000 by 2022

  • “a gold price of $5,000/ozt. in 2022 is plausible.” Source

13. Shaun Djie: $3,000 to $4,000 by the end of 2029

  • “In the next 10 years, gold will continue to be volatile. Gold could trade anywhere between the levels of $3,000 or $4,000 per troy ounce in the next ten years given how much cash will be potentially put into the economy.” Source

14. Frank Holmes: $4,000 by 2023

  • “The yellow metal is set to rally in the same fashion as in the aftermath of the last recession and, if cycles are exactly the same, gold could go to $4,000/ozt.”. Source

15. Diego Parrilla: $3,000 to $5,000 sometime between 2023 and 2025

  • Unprecedented monetary stimulus is fueling asset bubbles and corporate debt addiction — rendering interest-rate hikes impossible without an economic crash. In the ensuing market mania gold could rise to $3,000 to $5,000 per troy ounce in the next three to five years. Source

16. Eric Fry: $3,000 to $4,000

  • ‘When this ballgame ends, gold with be trading for at least $3,000 a troy ounce, and an extra-inning affair would not surprise me — lifting the gold price past $4,000/ozt..” (July 2020) Source

17. Michael Cuggino: $4,000

  • Cuggino says it would “not be an unreasonable move” for gold to breach $4,000/ozt.. (August, 2020) Source

18. Kirk Spano: $3,000 to $5,000 by 2025

  • “$3,000/ozt. mid-decade [with] upside potential to $5,000 per troy ounce.” Source

19. Jordan Roy-Byrne: $4,000 by end of 2024

  • “Gold will hit my $4,000 target by the end of 2024.” Source

20. Stan Bharti: $4,000-$5,000/ozt. in this cycle

  • Believes gold is going to between $4,000-$5,000/ozt. in this cycle. (March 2022) Source

21. Ralph Wakerly: $5,000/ozt., sometime between 2025 and 2028

  • Believes gold could easily reach $5,000/ozt., maybe more, within 3-6 years. Source

22. GoldPriceForecasts.com: $3,000 within the year of 2027, $3,500 in 2029 and $4,000 in 2031. Source

23. Rick Rule: $4,000 – $6,000 by 2027

  • Rule says that in past bull cycles, gold has climbed at least seven-fold, and that it is very likely that gold will double or triple by five years’ time. Source

$3,000 – $4,000 Gold

1. Adam Hamilton: $3,450

  • “Gold prices ought to at least double before this raging inflation runs its course, which would carry it up around $3,450 sometime in the coming years!” (June, 2022) Source

2. Jan van Eck: $3,400

  • Jan van Eck, Van Eck Associates CEO, has a target for gold of $3,400 an ounce, based on the idea that deflationary market environments with similar levels of government stimulus and systemic risk have been bullish for gold in the past. (August 2020) Source

3. Joe Foster: $3,200 to $3,400

  • “We…believe this to be a deflationary cycle and both recent deflationary gold bull markets suggest that a price over $3,000 per troy ounce is reasonable. In fact, if one believes, as we do, that the current central bank stimulus to fight the impacts of the COVID-19 virus, along with elevated levels of systemic risks, are similar to those during the global financial crisis, then $3,400/ozt. may be the target for this bull market.” (August 2020) Source

4.  Charles Gibson: $3,281

  • “Since 1967, the price of gold has shown an extremely strong (0.909) correlation with the total U.S. monetary base. The more dollars that either are, or could be, in circulation, the higher the expected gold price. With the total US monetary base now closing in on US$5.5tn the gold price could very reasonably be expected to rise to as high as US$3,281/ozt.” (June 2020) Source

5. WingCapital Investments: $3,000

  • “Using the post-2008 bull market as a guideline during which gold more than doubled within the ensuing 3 years, $3,000/ozt. would be a reasonable long-term target in our opinion.” (March 2020) Source

6. Brian Lundin: $3,000 by 2024

  •  “I think we’ll set a new record in real terms, exceeding $3,000/ozt., at some point over the next four years or so.” Source

7. Byron King: $3,000

  • “I think Bank of America is on track. I don’t think there’s any question gold will see $3,000/ozt.. As with all things in life, it’s just a question of how long it will take.” (April, 2020) Source 

8/9. Ben Morris and Drew McConnell: $3,000

  • “$3,000 per troy ounce isn’t a long shot.” (May, 2020) Source

10. Stewart Thomson: $3,000

  •  “Queen Gold is assured of launching above the key $2,000/ozt. price zone, ready to begin a rocket blast towards my medium-term $3,000/ozt. target!” (June, 2020) Source

11. John Ing: Higher than $3,000

  • “We expect gold to trade higher than $3,000 a troy ounce due to a lower greenback and solvency concerns.” (August 2020) Source

12. SomaBull: $3,000

  • “The money supply is quickly heading to levels that would support a $3,000/ozt. gold price well in excess of fair value by the time this bull market is exhausted.” (October, 2020) Source

13. Adam Trexler: $3,000

  • “With inflation coming, we’ll see gold over $2,500/ozt. in real dollar terms but we’ll see a devaluing of the dollar…[and] if you see 10% inflation, the dollar number value of gold could be much higher. I don’t think $3,000/ozt. gold is impossible and, if we see a hyperinflation scenario, it could be significantly higher.” (June, 2021) Source

14. Lawrence Lepard: $3,000 by mid-2024 Source

15. Tony Dobra: $3,000

  • Dobra believes the situation in Ukraine should see gold topping $2,100/ozt. later in 2022 and then that, anything is possible with $3,000/ozt. more likely than not. (April, 2022) Source

16. Trevor Gerszt: $3,000 by 2025

  • Gerszt believes the prospect for $3,000 gold by mid-decade is not outlandish. Source

17. Clem Chambers: $3,000

18. Sean Williams: $3,000 in 2022

  •  “It would not be in the least bit surprising if spot gold approached $3,000 per ounce by sometime in 2022.” Source

19. David Garofalo: $3,000

  • “Gold’s all-time peak in real terms was actually achieved in 1981 when the nominal gold price was $850 an ounce, that would be $3,000 an ounce in 2021 dollars. That’s what I think I see in this cycle.” (September 2021) Source

20. Bloomberg Intelligence: $3,000

  • “There is a good chance for gold to even reach $3,000 an ounce during this bull run, according to Bloomberg Intelligence charts.” (August 2020) Source

What do you think of the above price forecasts? Have your say in the “Comments” section below. Also, if I have missed other analyst forecasts (they must be within the last year) please mentioned them below and I will include them in a future article.

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Women’s basketball is gaining ground, but is March Madness ready to rival the men’s game?

The hype around Caitlin Clark, NCAA Women’s Basketball is unprecedented — but can its March Madness finally rival the Men’s?

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In March 2021, the world was struggling to find its legs amid the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. Sports leagues were trying their best to keep going.

It started with the NBA creating a bubble in Orlando in late 2020, playing a full postseason in the confines of Disney World in arenas that were converted into gyms devoid of fans. Other leagues eventually allowed for limited capacity seating in stadiums, including the NCAA for its Men’s and Women’s Basketball tournaments.

The two tournaments were confined to two cities that year — instead of games normally played in different regions around the country: Indianapolis for the men and San Antonio for the women.

But a glaring difference between the men’s and women’s facilities was exposed by Oregon’s Sedona Prince on social media. The workout and practice area for the men was significantly larger than the women, whose weight room was just a single stack of dumbbells.

The video drew significant attention to the equity gaps between the Men’s and Women’s divisions, leading to a 114-page report by a civil rights law firm that detailed the inequities between the two and suggested ways to improve the NCAA’s efforts for the Women’s side. One of these suggestions was simply to give the Women’s Tournament the same March Madness moniker as the men, which it finally got in 2022.

But underneath the surface of these institutional changes, women’s basketball’s single-biggest success driver was already emerging out of the shadows.

During the same COVID-marred season, a rookie from Iowa led the league in scoring with 26.6 points per game.

Her name: Caitlin Clark.

Caitlin Clark has scored the most points and made the most threes in college basketball.

Matthew Holst/Getty Images

As it stands today, Clark is the leading scorer in the history of college basketball — Men’s or Women’s. Her jaw-dropping shooting ability has fueled record viewership and ticket sales for Women’s collegiate games, carrying momentum to the March Madness tournament that has NBA legends like Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce more excited for the Women’s March Madness than the Men’s this year.

Related: Ticket prices for Caitlin Clark's final college home game are insanely high

But as the NCAA tries to bridge the opportunities given to the two sides, can the hype around Clark be enough for the Women’s March Madness to bring in the same fandom as the Men for the 2024 tournaments?

TheStreet spoke with Jon Lewis of Sports Media Watch, who has been following sports viewership trends for the last two decades; Melissa Isaacson, a veteran sports journalist and longtime advocate of women’s basketball; and Pete Giorgio, Deloitte’s leader for Global and US Sports to dissect the rise Caitlin Clark and women’s collegiate hoops ahead of March Madness.

“Nobody is moving the needle like Caitlin Clark,” Lewis told TheStreet. “Nobody else in sports, period, right now, is fueling record numbers on all these different networks, driving viewership beyond what the norm has been for 20 years."

The Caitlin Clark Effect is real — but there are other reasons for the success of women's basketball

The game in which Clark broke the all-time college scoring record against Ohio State on Sunday, Mar. 3 was seen by an average of 3.4 million viewers on Fox, marking the first time a women’s game broke the two million viewership barrier since 2010. Viewership for that game came in just behind the men’s game between Michigan State vs Arizona game on Thanksgiving, which Lewis said was driven by NFL viewership on the same day.

A week later, Iowa’s Big Ten Championship win over Nebraska breached the three million viewers mark as well, and the team has also seen viewership numbers crack over 1.5 million viewers multiple times throughout the regular season.

The success on television has also translated to higher ticket prices, as tickets to watch Clark at home and on the road have breached hundreds of dollars and drawn long lines outside stadiums. Isaacson, who is a professor at Northwestern, said she went to the game between the Hawkeyes and Northwestern Wildcats — which was the first sellout in school history for the team — and witnessed the effect of Clark in person.

“Standing in line interviewing people at the Northwestern game, seeing men who've never been to a women's game with their little girls watching and so excited, and seeing Caitlin and her engaging with little girls, it’s just been really fun,” Isaacson said.

But while Clark is certainly the biggest success driver, her game isn’t the only thing pulling up the women’s side. The three-point revolution, which started in the NBA with the introduction of deeper analytics as well as the rise of stars like Steph Curry, has been a positive for the Women’s game.

“They backed up to the three-point line and it’s opening up the game,” Isaacson said.

One of the major criticisms from a lot of women’s hoops detractors has been how the game does not compare in terms of quality to the men. However, shooting has become a great equalizer, displayed recently during the 2024 NBA All-Star Weekend last month when the WNBA’s Sabrina Ionescu nearly defeated Curry — who is widely considered the greatest shooter ever — in a three-point contest.

Clark has become the embodiment of the three-point revolution for the women. Her shooting displays have demanded the respect of anyone who has doubted women’s basketball in the past because being a man simply doesn’t grant someone the ability to shoot long-distance bombs the way she can.

Basketball pundit Bill Simmons admitted on a Feb. 28 episode of “The Bill Simmons Podcast” that he used to not want to watch women’s basketball because he didn’t enjoy watching the product, but finds himself following the women’s game this year more than the men’s side in large part due to Clark.

“I think she has the chance to be the most fun basketball player, male or female, when she gets to the pros,” Simmons said. “If she’s going to make the same 30-footers, routinely. It’s basically all the same Curry stuff just with a female … I would like watching her play in any format.”

But while Clark is driving up the numbers at the top, she’s not the only one carrying the greatness of the product. Lewis, Isaacson, Giorgio — and even Simmons, on his podcast — agreed that there are several other names and collegiate programs pulling in fans.

“It’s not just Iowa, it’s not just Caitlin Clark, it’s all of these teams,” Giorgio said. “Part of it is Angel Reese … coaches like Dawn Staley in South Carolina … You’ve got great stories left and right.”

LSU's Angel Reese (right) and her head coach Kim Mulkey are two of the biggest names in Women's college hoops. 

Eakin Howard/Getty Images

The viewership showed that as well because the SEC Championship game between the LSU Tigers and University of South Carolina Gamecocks on Sunday, Mar. 10 averaged two million viewers.

Bridging the gap between the Men’s and Women’s March Madness viewership

The first reason women are catching up to the men is really star power. While the Women’s division has names like Clark and Reese, there just aren’t any names on the Men’s side this year that carry the same weight.

Garnett said on his show that he can’t name any men’s college basketball players, while on the women’s side, he could easily throw out the likes of Clark, Reese, UConn’s Paige Bueckers, and USC’s JuJu Watkins. Lewis felt the same.

“The stars in the men's game, with one and done, I genuinely couldn't give you a single name of a single men’s player,” Lewis said.

A major reason for this is that the Women’s side has the continuity that the Men’s side does not. The rules of the NBA allow for players to play just one year in college — or even play a year professionally elsewhere — before entering the draft, while the WNBA requires players to be 22-years-old during the year of the draft to be eligible.

“You know the stars in the women's game because they stay longer,” Lewis said. “[In the men’s game], the programs are the stars … In the women's game, it's a lot more like the NBA where the players are the stars.”

Parity is also a massive factor on both sides. The women’s game used to be dominated by a few schools like UConn and Notre Dame. Nowadays, between LSU, Iowa, University of South Carolina, Stanford, and UConn, there are a handful of schools that have a shot to win the entire tournament. While this is more exciting for fans, the talent in the women's game isn’t deep enough, so too many upsets are unlikely. Many of the biggest draws are still expected to make deep runs.

But on the men’s side, there is a bigger shot that the smaller programs make it to the end — which is what was seen last year. UConn eventually won the whole thing, but schools without as big of a national fanbase in San Diego State, Florida Atlantic University, and the University Miami rounded out the Final Four.

“People want to see one Cinderella,” Lewis said. “They don't want to see two and three, they want one team that isn't supposed to be there.”

Is Women's March Madness ready to overtake the Men?

Social media might feel like it’s giving more traction to the Women’s game, but experts don’t necessarily expect that to show up in the viewership numbers just yet.

“There’s certainly a lot more buzz than there used to be,” Giorgio said. “It’s been growing every year for not just the past few years but for 10 years, but it’s hard to compare it versus Men’s.”

But the gap continues to get smaller and smaller between the two sides, and this year's tournament could bridge that gap even further.

One indicator is ticket prices. For the NCAA Tournament Final Four in April, “get-in” ticket prices are currently more expensive for the Women’s game than the Men’s game, according to TickPick. The ticketing site also projects that the Women’s Final Four and Championship game ticket prices will smash any previous records for the Women’s side should Clark and the Hawkeyes make a run to the end.

NCAA "get-in" price comparison.

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The caveat is that the Women’s Final Four is played in a stadium that has less than a third of the seating capacity of the Men’s Final Four. That’s why the average ticket prices are still more expensive for the men, although the gap is a lot smaller this year than in previous years.

The gap between the average ticket prices of the Final Four tournaments is getting smaller.

But that caveat pretty much sums up where the women’s game currently stands versus the men’s: There is still a significant gap between the distribution and availability of the former.

While Iowa’s regular season games have garnered millions of viewers, the majority of the most-viewed games are still Men’s contests.

To illustrate the gap between the men’s and women’s game — last year’s Women’s Championship game that saw the LSU Tigers defeat the Hawkeyes was a record-breaking one for the women, drawing an average of 9.9 million viewers, more than double the viewership from the previous year.

One of the main reasons for that increase, as Lewis pointed out, is that last year’s Championship game was on ABC, which was the first time since 1995 that the Women’s Championship game was on broadcast television. The 1995 contest between UConn and Tennessee drew 7.4 million viewers.

The Men’s Championship actually had a record low in viewership last year garnering only 14.7 million viewers, driven in-part due to a lack of hype surrounding the schools that made it to the Final Four and Championship game. Viewership for the Men’s title game has been trending down in recent years — partly due to the effect the pandemic had on collective sports viewership — but the Men’s side had been easily breaching 20 million viewers for the game as recently as 2017.

The 2023 Women's National Championship was the most-viewed game ever, while the Men's Championship was the division's least watched. 

Iowa's Big Ten Championship win on Sunday actually only averaged 6,000 fewer viewers than the iconic rivalry game between Duke and University of North Carolina Men’s Basketball the day prior. However, there is also the case that the Iowa game was played on broadcast TV (CBS) versus the Duke-UNC game airing on cable channel (ESPN).

So historical precedence makes it unlikely that we’ll see the women’s game match the men’s in terms of viewership as early as this year barring another massive viewership jump for the women and a lack of recovery for the Men’s side.

But ultimately, this shouldn’t be looked at as a down point for Women’s Basketball, according to Lewis. The Men’s side has built its viewership base for years, and the Women’s side is still growing. Even keeping pace with the Men’s viewership is already a great sign.

“The fact that these games have Caitlin Clark are even in the conversation with men's games, in terms of viewership is a huge deal,” Lewis said.

Related: Angel Reese makes bold statement for avoiding late game scuffle in championship game

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One city held a mass passport-getting event

A New Orleans congressman organized a way for people to apply for their passports en masse.

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22 hours ago

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March 15, 2024

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While the number of Americans who do not have a passport has dropped steadily from more than 80% in 1990 to just over 50% now, a lack of knowledge around passport requirements still keeps a significant portion of the population away from international travel.

Over the four years that passed since the start of covid-19, passport offices have also been dealing with significant backlog due to the high numbers of people who were looking to get a passport post-pandemic. 

Related: Here is why it is (still) taking forever to get a passport

To deal with these concurrent issues, the U.S. State Department recently held a mass passport-getting event in the city of New Orleans. Called the "Passport Acceptance Event," the gathering was held at a local auditorium and invited residents of Louisiana’s 2nd Congressional District to complete a passport application on-site with the help of staff and government workers.

A passport case shows the seal featured on American passports.

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'Come apply for your passport, no appointment is required'

"Hey #LA02," Rep. Troy A. Carter Sr. (D-LA), whose office co-hosted the event alongside the city of New Orleans, wrote to his followers on Instagram  (META) . "My office is providing passport services at our #PassportAcceptance event. Come apply for your passport, no appointment is required."

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The event was held on March 14 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. While it was designed for those who are already eligible for U.S. citizenship rather than as a way to help non-citizens with immigration questions, it helped those completing the application for the first time fill out forms and make sure they have the photographs and identity documents they need. The passport offices in New Orleans where one would normally have to bring already-completed forms have also been dealing with lines and would require one to book spots weeks in advance.

These are the countries with the highest-ranking passports in 2024

According to Carter Sr.'s communications team, those who submitted their passport application at the event also received expedited processing of two to three weeks (according to the State Department's website, times for regular processing are currently six to eight weeks).

While Carter Sr.'s office has not released the numbers of people who applied for a passport on March 14, photos from the event show that many took advantage of the opportunity to apply for a passport in a group setting and get expedited processing.

Every couple of months, a new ranking agency puts together a list of the most and least powerful passports in the world based on factors such as visa-free travel and opportunities for cross-border business.

In January, global citizenship and financial advisory firm Arton Capital identified United Arab Emirates as having the most powerful passport in 2024. While the United States topped the list of one such ranking in 2014, worsening relations with a number of countries as well as stricter immigration rules even as other countries have taken strides to create opportunities for investors and digital nomads caused the American passport to slip in recent years.

A UAE passport grants holders visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to 180 of the world’s 198 countries (this calculation includes disputed territories such as Kosovo and Western Sahara) while Americans currently have the same access to 151 countries.

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Fast-food chain closes restaurants after Chapter 11 bankruptcy

Several major fast-food chains recently have struggled to keep restaurants open.

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1 day ago

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March 15, 2024

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Competition in the fast-food space has been brutal as operators deal with inflation, consumers who are worried about the economy and their jobs and, in recent months, the falling cost of eating at home. 

Add in that many fast-food chains took on more debt during the covid pandemic and that labor costs are rising, and you have a perfect storm of problems. 

It's a situation where Restaurant Brands International (QSR) has suffered as much as any company.  

Related: Wendy's menu drops a fan favorite item, adds something new

Three major Burger King franchise operators filed for bankruptcy in 2023, and the chain saw hundreds of stores close. It also saw multiple Popeyes franchisees move into bankruptcy, with dozens of locations closing.

RBI also stepped in and purchased one of its key franchisees.

"Carrols is the largest Burger King franchisee in the United States today, operating 1,022 Burger King restaurants in 23 states that generated approximately $1.8 billion of system sales during the 12 months ended Sept. 30, 2023," RBI said in a news release. Carrols also owns and operates 60 Popeyes restaurants in six states." 

The multichain company made the move after two of its large franchisees, Premier Kings and Meridian, saw multiple locations not purchased when they reached auction after Chapter 11 bankruptcy filings. In that case, RBI bought select locations but allowed others to close.

Burger King lost hundreds of restaurants in 2023.

Image source: Chen Jianli/Xinhua via Getty

Another fast-food chain faces bankruptcy problems

Bojangles may not be as big a name as Burger King or Popeye's, but it's a popular chain with more than 800 restaurants in eight states.

"Bojangles is a Carolina-born restaurant chain specializing in craveable Southern chicken, biscuits and tea made fresh daily from real recipes, and with a friendly smile," the chain says on its website. "Founded in 1977 as a single location in Charlotte, our beloved brand continues to grow nationwide."

Like RBI, Bojangles uses a franchise model, which makes it dependent on the financial health of its operators. The company ultimately saw all its Maryland locations close due to the financial situation of one of its franchisees.

Unlike. RBI, Bojangles is not public — it was taken private by Durational Capital Management LP and Jordan Co. in 2018 — which means the company does not disclose its financial information to the public. 

That makes it hard to know whether overall softness for the brand contributed to the chain seeing its five Maryland locations after a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing.

Bojangles has a messy bankruptcy situation

Even though the locations still appear on the Bojangles website, they have been shuttered since late 2023. The locations were operated by Salim Kakakhail and Yavir Akbar Durranni. The partners operated under a variety of LLCs, including ABS Network, according to local news channel WUSA9. 

The station reported that the owners face a state investigation over complaints of wage theft and fraudulent W2s. In November Durranni and ABS Network filed for bankruptcy in New Jersey, WUSA9 reported.

"Not only do former employees say these men owe them money, WUSA9 learned the former owners owe the state, too, and have over $69,000 in back property taxes."

Former employees also say that the restaurant would regularly purchase fried chicken from Popeyes and Safeway when it ran out in their stores, the station reported. 

Bojangles sent the station a comment on the situation.

"The franchisee is no longer in the Bojangles system," the company said. "However, it is important to note in your coverage that franchisees are independent business owners who are licensed to operate a brand but have autonomy over many aspects of their business, including hiring employees and payroll responsibilities."

Kakakhail and Durranni did not respond to multiple requests for comment from WUSA9.

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