ESPN televises the presentation of the State Farm Wade Trophy. An award presented to the best female NCAA Division I basketball player in the nation. The Wade Trophy, named after the late, legendary three-time national champion, Delta State University coach Lily Margaret Wade, debuted in 1978 as the first-ever women's national player of the year award in college basketball.
As the flagship sports television network since its Sept. 7, 1979 launch, ESPN now reaches over 96 million homes.
The network is one of only three cable channels that has such a large distribution. ESPN broadcasts more than 5,100 live and/or original hours of sports programming presented annually-more than 65 sports including MLB, NBA, NFL’s Monday Night Football, NASCAR, FIFA World Cup, WNBA, college football, men's and women's college basketball, including every game of the women’s basketball tournament, golf, including the Masters (2008), Little League World Series, the X Games.
The 2008 women's basketball tournament was the most viewed ever, according to ESPN. Overall, viewership on ESPN was up 42 percent from last year and ESPN2 saw a jump of 31 percent. The championship game alone saw a 30 percent ratings increase over last year's final.
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