The women’s conference tournaments have reportedly attracted both record-shattering viewership and attendance. The Big Ten title game, which was broadcast by CBS, was also able to successfully set a novel record for women’s basketball.
Other than the Big Ten, ACC, Pac-12, and SEC set records individually in the category of most viewed championships on ESPN. According to Front Office Sports, the Big Ten tournament was sold completely, which has never happened before. All the tickets were sold out “two weeks before the first tip” as per the report.
𝗧𝗵𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁.#Hawkeyes pic.twitter.com/2DTvwdhw3n
— Iowa Women's Basketball (@IowaWBB) March 10, 2024
The championship game saw Caitlin Clark lead the Iowa Hawkeyes to victory against the Nebraska Cornhuskers. The game had 109,000 fans in attendance and was viewed by more than 3 million on CBS and as the game turned overtime, it was viewed by 4.45 million.
Iowa Hawkeyes against the Nebraska Cornhuskers became the most-viewed women’s conference tournament ever. According to FOS via CBS Sports, the game was the most-watched women’s college basketball game registered by the network. Across all networks, the game was the most-viewed.
🏆 CHAMPS 🏆 pic.twitter.com/queNwTWw93
— South Carolina Women's Basketball (@GamecockWBB) March 10, 2024
The SEC Tournament, which saw the South Carolina Gamecocks defeat the LSU Tigers, was attended by 13, 163 fans. The entire tournament saw 64, 905 supporters. As noted by Front Office Sports, the game was watched by an average of 2 million viewers.
The Stanford Cardinal were defeated by the USC Trojans in the Pac-12 Tournament. The championship matchup was attended by 5, 525 spectators, and viewed by 1.4 million fans.
The Notre Dame Fighting Irish defeated the NC State Wolfpack in the ACC Tournament. As per the ACC, the game was attended by 9,102 spectators and was watched by an average of 679,000 viewers. The number saw a more than 40 percent increase from last year.
Nearly every women's conference tournament set an attendance record:
Big Ten: 109,000 total, first-ever sellout
ACC: 67,081 total, most since 2009
SEC: 64,905 total, most-ever
Big 12: 33,128 total, most since 2013
Pac-12: 29,288 total, 2nd-most everhttps://t.co/ZHlqBo4HR0 pic.twitter.com/fSFC1WLQJb— Front Office Sports (@FOS) March 13, 2024
The network giant, ESPN, recorded the matchup as the most-viewed ACC Championship as well. In the Big 12 Tournament, the Texas Longhorns defeated the Iowa State Cyclones, and saw the biggest attendance as well.
