Caitlin Clark and Iowa set new viewership records for the third year in a row.
The University of South Carolina's victory over Clark and the Hawkeyes in Sunday's national championship game set a new record with 18.7 million viewers, making it the most-watched women's basketball game in history. At its peak viewership for this broadcast reached 24 million people, making it the most-watched basketball game at any level since 2019.
💥 A new viewership record has been set! 💥
Sunday's title game between Iowa and South Carolina was watched by 18.7 million people.
The highest number of viewers was 24 million (!!). oh. pic.twitter.com/37vOwX7Bv0
— Nicole Auerbach (@NicoleAuerbach) April 8, 2024
18.7 million people🔥
— Caitlin Clark (@CaitlinClark22) April 8, 2024
Clark and the Hawkeyes broke several ratings records throughout the tournament before Sunday's championship game. Their victory over LSU in the Elite Eight was the most-watched women's college basketball game ever. The battle, a rematch of LSU's win over Iowa in last year's national championship game, averaged more than 12.3 million viewers and peaked at just over 16.1 million. The previous record was last year's title match, when the number of viewers reached just under 10 million.
And on Friday night, the University of Iowa broke that record again with a Final Four win over UConn. The game drew him 14.2 million viewers, peaking at around 17 million, and was also ESPN's most-watched basketball game of any kind. The game drew more viewers than every NBA Finals and World Series game last season, every round of the Masters since 2013, and all but five college football games last season. South Carolina's Final Four win over North Carolina State drew just over 7 million viewers.
Sunday's championship game was then moved from ESPN to ABC, which undoubtedly helped set new viewership records.
The Gamecocks came out on top late Sunday to defeat Clark and the Hawkeyes 87-75 at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse in Cleveland. This was his third national title for South Carolina in program history. The Shamcocks are his first undefeated national champions since 2016 and are only the 10th team in history to accomplish that. They have only lost one game in the past two years.
Clark, who led the Hawkeyes to their second straight championship game appearance and broke countless records last season, is widely expected to be selected No. 1 overall in next week's WNBA Draft. South Carolina star Camila Cardoso has also announced her participation in the draft and is expected to be selected in the top five.
