As South Carolina defeated LSU on Sunday, 1.5 million viewers on average turned their TVs to ESPN, making it the most-watched regular season women’s college basketball game since 2010.
The contest drew historic numbers despite competing with Super Bowl pregame content on other networks.
No. 1 South Carolina, now the lone undefeated squad in women’s college basketball, has set multiple high viewership marks this season. Their Feb. 5 game against UConn drew 1.1 million viewers, making it the fourth most-watched game since 2010.
South Carolina is setting the standard for viewership, but other teams are following suit. Iowa and Indiana’s Feb. 9 matchup on the Big Ten Network was the most-watched women’s basketball game in network history.
The record-setting numbers represent a larger trend that took shape during the 2022 NCAA Tournament. The first two rounds saw a 15 percent increase in TV viewership, while the second round averaged 474,000 viewers, up 25 percent from 2021. An early–round game between the University of Central Florida and UConn drew 1.12 million viewers, while Creighton’s upset of Iowa neared 1 million.
The 2022 NCAA championship game…
