Courtesy of Los Angeles Times
NCAA gymnastics has been around since 1982, but it wasn’t until this year that the sport was finally broadcasted on FOX.
Last weekend, history was made with FOX’s first broadcast of a live gymnastics meet, featuring a Big Ten matchup between #5 Michigan State and #6 UCLA. This was the perfect meet to be featured on a national broadcast, especially for a FOX first, as Michigan State has been on the rise coming off their first conference championship title, and UCLA has big names and a guarantee of exciting floor performances.
The meet, seen by 761,000 people on TV and 10,681 fans at the Pauley Pavilion, was highlighted by Michigan State’s program record breaking vault rotation and UCLA’s floor party.
Courtesy of Michigan State Gymnastics (@msu_gymnastics on Instagram)
Michigan State brought all the sticks with them to the west coast. Kayla Tucker started the rotation with a 9.850, and the scores grew from there. Freshman Amy Doyle scored a 9.900, and Olivia Zsarmani, Nikki Smith, and Sage Kellerman all scored 9.950s (and I think Kellerman will get the first 10 on vault this season). The Spartans team vault score of 49.600 is the highest in school history and leads the nation this season.
Courtesy of UCLA Gymnastics (@uclagymnastics on Instagram)
UCLA is known for having fun and electric floor routines. To get fans involved in the fun during their floor party, they give their student section, The Den, a paper with instructions for “Denography” so they can dance along to the routines with the gymnasts. UCLA’s floor rotation showed the fun that FOX and national broadcasts have been missing out on. Philippines Olympian Emma Malabuyo scored a 9.900, freshman Macy McGowan scored a 9.950, and Brooklyn Moors and Chae Campbell both scored 9.975s (but I think both routines could’ve gotten 10s). The rotation and the meet were capped off in the most perfect (literally) way possible: with a 10 from Jordan Chiles. UCLA scored a 49.800 on floor, which is the highest in the nation this season.
Chiles was actually sick and missed practice the day before with a 104 degree fever. As soon as we learned she was sick, I knew she was going to score a 10 that night (and I’m sure many gymnasts can relate to having some of your best meets and routines when feeling under the weather).
The matchup between the top two teams in the Big Ten came down to the last routine and just one tenth, with UCLA winning 197.300 to 197.200. Zsarmani, Smith, and Kellerman shared the event title for vault, Kellerman won the bars title with a 9.925, Malabuyo won the beam title with a 9.925, Chiles of course won the floor title, and Smith won the all-around title with a 39.425.
Courtesy of the UCLA Bruins
So many gymnastics fans were not just excited to see these two teams make history on FOX, but they were excited to be able to see the meet at all. The 43 year difference between the debut of NCAA gymnastics and FOX’s first broadcast of the sport should show the jarring issue of accessible, wide-spread coverage of NCAA gymnastics. The lack of viewership does not come from seeing fewer perfect 10s so far this season (if you’re a part of the gymternet, you know what I mean), but rather from the ongoing glaring issue of gymnastics meets not being broadcasted or being behind a paywall, as well as the clear lack of national broadcasts.
While FOX finally broadcasting gymnastics was certainly a step in the right direction, it would have been nice to see posts on the FOX Sports social media pages to help bring in more viewers, especially those who may not watch the sport often. Fans will get another chance to watch gymnastics on FOX on March 15 when UCLA takes on former longtime conference rival Utah.
I am once again asking: more nationally televised gymnastics please!
Edited by Giana Robertaccio
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