The NCAA women’s national championship game dominated the men’s title game in television ratings.
The men’s game, which aired Monday on TNT and TBS, drew an average of 14.8 million viewers as UW defeated Purdue for its second consecutive championship, and the Huskies defeated San Diego, according to The Athletic. That’s a significant increase from last season’s 14.69 draw in the win over State University. a million.
South Carolina’s win over Caitlin Clark and the Iowa Hawkeyes drew 18.7 million viewers, the most viewers of any Sunday women’s game on ABC and ESPN. collected. The basketball game (men’s, women’s, college and pro) was the most-watched women’s college basketball game in history since 2019, according to ESPN.
This broadcast reached an astonishing 24 million viewers.
“18.7 million people” Clark I wrote to X With fire emoji.
Clark and the Hawkeyes set women’s college basketball viewership records with three consecutive games over seven days during March Madness, drawing 12.3 million viewers for the Elite Eight rematch with LSU and leading the way to the Final Four. The win over UConn drew 14.2 million viewers.
The women’s tournament’s dominance was due in part to its many star players on different teams, with Clark, the NCAA’s all-time Division I leading scorer, being the biggest draw.
The “Caitlin Clark Effect” led to record attendance and soaring ticket prices throughout the 2024 NCAA Women’s Tournament.
LSU’s Angel Reese, UConn’s Paige Bakkers, South Carolina’s Camila Cardoso and University of Southern California’s star freshman JuJu Watkins all contributed to the growth of the women’s game.
Clark, Rees and Bakkers have become some of the top faces of the NIL era, with millions of followers on social media.
Lakers star LeBron James also credited those “icons” for the rise of women’s college basketball.
“I don’t think there’s a huge difference between the men’s and women’s games when it comes to college basketball.” james said After Wednesday’s loss to the Timberwolves. “I think their popularity comes from their iconography in the women’s game.
“Look at Angel Reese, look at Juju.” [Watkins]When you see Caitlin Clark, you see Paige. [Bueckers]. Look at this young girl who is a freshman at Iowa State University. [Audi Crooks].you please look [Cameron] Stanford University on the Brink. That’s just part of it.and a freshman at the University of Notre Dame. [Hannah Hidalgo]”
Clark, Reese and Cardoso will declare for the 2024 WNBA Draft, and the Buccaneers will return to college in their final year of eligibility.
Clark is the consensus No. 1 pick in the draft and is owned by the Indiana Fever.
The 2024 WNBA Draft will be held Monday at the Brooklyn Academy of Music.
