NCAA Women’s Tournament shatters ratings record in finals
Sunday’s gritty battle for the women’s basketball championship between Louisiana State and Iowa averaged 9.9 million viewers, making it the most-watched NCAA women’s basketball final in television history, ESPN said Monday. Peak viewership hovered around 12.6 million views and total viewership was about double the viewership of last year’s championship game.
It was the most-watched college sports event ever on ESPN+, the sports network’s streaming platform, the network said. The game made its first appearance in decades on ABC, ESPN’s parent network, when Louisiana State rebound star Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark, Iowa’s dazzling 3-point shooter, put on a show.
“This is the game we love and to see it get the recognition it deserves is obviously super rewarding,” Iowa’s starting center Monika Czinano said Sunday. “It’s about time women’s basketball got this kind of viewership, and it can only go up.”
For viewers just tuning in to the women’s game, Czinano offered two words of advice: “Buckle up.”
“It just gets more exciting and fun,” she said. “The game is evolving in such a great way. I’m glad you’re tuning in now, but keep it up.
The preliminary ratings collected by Nielsen were just the latest in a record-breaking tournament for the women’s game: the highest tournament attendance (357,542); the highest scoring final (102-85); the highest scoring half in a Finals (59 points by LSU); most double-doubles in a single season (by Reese with 34); and Clark’s eighth-round performance with the first 40-point triple-double in a Division I NCAA tournament, men’s or women’s.
Sunday numbers broke the previous record by millions – 5.68 million for the Connecticut vs. Oklahoma in 2002, when the Huskies were led by Sue Bird, Swin Cash, Asjha Jones, Tamika Williams and Diana Taurasi. Viewers also nearly doubled the ESPN audience for Friday’s semifinal between Iowa and South Carolina, which was watched by 5.5 million viewers, the largest ever audience for a semifinal.
ESPN has shown most of the women’s tournament since 1996 when it took over the rights from CBS. For Friday night’s games, viewership had already increased by 42 percent compared to last year’s tournament. But the rights to screen the tournament and 28 other NCAA title events will see a new deal next year.
Leaders in women’s basketball have long fought to maximize the tournament’s TV rights as a way to remedy a strong imbalance with the men’s game. The NCAA estimates that the women’s tournament could be worth at least $85 million by 2025, compared to just $6 million in ESPN’s current deal. Women’s basketball is part of a larger $34 million broadcast package that includes other NCAA sports. Charlie Baker, the association’s new president, suggested over the weekend that the women’s tournament could get its own deal next year.
For some of the sport’s biggest stars, the numbers are finally catching up.
“When people come to see and understand the game, they see how fun and great the product is and keep coming back for more,” Clark said after Sunday’s game. “I’m not surprised.”