The women’s NCAA Semifinals on ESPN obliterated viewership records as Caitlin Clark led Iowa women’s basketball to a thrilling 71-69 victory over Paige Bueckers and UConn women’s basketball. The game kept viewers on the edge of their seats until the final seconds.
Iowa's nail-biting victory against UConn on Friday night in Cleveland marked a historic milestone as the most-viewed women's college basketball game ever. A staggering 14.2 million viewers tuned in, with viewership peaking at 17 million, according to Richard Deitsch of The Athletic.
This game surpasses the recently set all-time viewership record, established just days ago on Monday, when Iowa's victory over LSU averaged 12.3 million viewers and reached a peak of 16 million viewers.
Caitlin Clark, Iowa breaking all types of viewership records
Iowa's Final Four win garnered the third-largest basketball audience over the past two years, including both college and professional games, regardless of gender. It falls behind the men's NC State-Duke regional final last Sunday (15.1 million viewers) and last year's men's national title game between UConn and San Diego State (14.7 million viewers).
On ESPN networks, it stands as the most-watched basketball game since Game 6 of the 2019 NBA Finals (Raptors vs. Warriors: 18.59 million viewers).
It also ranks as the tenth-largest basketball audience ever on cable, trailing behind eight games in the NCAA men’s Final Four and Game 7 of the 2016 and 2018 NBA Western Conference Finals (Thunder vs. Warriors: 16.0 million; Warriors vs. Rockets: 14.8 million).
The record-breaking audience for Iowa-UConn stands out, but the long-term potential is perhaps more encouraging for the South Carolina-NC State game earlier in the evening.
South Carolina's victory over NC State drew a television audience of 7.1 million viewers, making it the second most-watched national semifinal on record, trailing only a Virginia-Stanford game on CBS in 1992 (8.1 million viewers).
The combined viewership for the semifinal games totaled 10.8 million viewers, which is more than double compared to last year's numbers. The two games also averaged 3.1 million viewers aged 18 to 49, marking an increase of over 130% compared to the previous year.
South Carolina and Iowa women's basketball anticipated for higher numbers
Most sports media industry insiders anticipate that Sunday’s championship game between undefeated South Carolina and Iowa will set a new all-time viewership record. The only question is, how high will it go?
Experts attribute the surge in interest in women's basketball to two key factors: the emergence of a new generation of star players, including some exceptionally talented individuals like Caitlin Clark; and the expanded coverage of women's basketball games on networks, reflecting increased investment in the sport.
Clark's March Madness games on ESPN and ABC have garnered an average of 8.3 million viewers.
The Women's Final Four National Championship airs Sunday on ABC at 2 PM ET, with the NCAA Women’s Final Four Special Presented by Capital One. Tip off for the championship game between No. 1 Iowa and No. 1 South Carolina starts at 3 PM ET.
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