On Monday, per the viewership figures released for the national championship game, South Carolina’s win over Iowa garnered 18.7 million viewers and peaked at 24.7 million.
South Carolina-Iowa averages 18.7 million viewers, most-watched basketball game since 2019 https://t.co/BLV0Jvd1ix pic.twitter.com/KXCuyCXF7F
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) April 8, 2024
ESPN reported the most-watched basketball game (men’s or women’s, college or pro) since 2019, accounting for an 89 percent increase from the 2023 title game and a 285 percent increase from 2022.
Sunday’s South Carolina-Iowa National Championship game packed a record amount of viewers for a women’s college basketball game. Now recorded as the most-watched sporting event in English, outside the Olympics and football, since 2019.
The Gamecocks’ win on Sunday game, increased 89% from last year’s LSU-Iowa matchup, averaging 9.9 million viewers, at the time the most-watched women’s college basketball game.
Various networks have drawn record-breaking audiences for the games spotlighting Clark and Iowa, and viewership has continued to even hike further during the NCAA Tournament.
For instance, Iowa’s first-round win over Holy Cross averaged 3.23 million viewers, a record for the first round. While on the second-round win over West Virginia, it seems to have an average of 4.9 million viewers, another record for the round.
Furthermore, Iowa’s 71-69 win over UConn in the national semifinals drew 14.2 million viewers and peaked at 17 million viewers. A new women’s college basketball viewership record lasting less than 72 hours.
As projection highlights, Clark will now be moving to the WNBA in the league’s draft starting April 15, her exit might possibly stress next year’s NCAA Tournament viewership numbers.
ESPN has secured new contracts with the NCAA for dozens of championship events, including the women’s basketball tournament, which begins this summer.
