The national championship for women's college basketball between Angel Reese's LSU basketball and Caitlin Clark's Iowa basketball resulted in historic viewership, according to ESPN PR.
The game between LSU basketball and Iowa basketball had 9.9 million viewers, which is the most-viewed NCAA Division I women's college basketball game on record across all networks. The peak viewership was at 12.6 million. YOY was up 103%, and the game was the most-viewed college event ever on ESPN+, including both men's and women's sports.
Much of the intrigue for the game came from Caitlin Clark of Iowa basketball, who played a great tournament. The controversial moment came from when Angel Reese of LSU basketball taunted Caitlin Clark at the end of the game. There were many on both sides of the argument, but Angel Reese, Kim Mulkey and LSU came away with the program's first national championship. It was the fourth national championship for Kim Mulkey, who won three at Baylor prior to taking the job at LSU.
Clark did all she could to help Iowa win, scoring 30 points, but in the end it was not enough. Iowa could not play good enough defense, giving up 102 points to LSU. Angel Reese won the Most Outstanding Player award for the tournament, she put up 15 points, 10 rebounds and five assists in the national championship game.
Regardless of the outcome, the viewership is a great sign for women's basketball. The game was accessible for a ton of people to watch because it was on ABC, just like something like the NBA Finals would be. It will be interesting to see how ESPN and women's basketball strategizes for the future.
Follow Us
Subscribe