Caitlin Clark did not get her storybook ending Sunday afternoon in Cleveland, but women’s college basketball did when the viewership figures for the national championship game were released Monday.
South Carolina’s win over Iowa was seen by an astonishing 18.9 million viewers and peaked at 24.1 million. (Initial ratings said 18.7 million viewers.) That’s a 90 percent increase from the 2023 title game and a 289 percent increase from 2022. ESPN said it is the most-watched basketball game (men’s or women’s, college or pro) since 2019.
18.7 MILLION 🔥
— Caitlin Clark (@CaitlinClark22) April 8, 2024
The interest in Clark’s journey (and the sport at large) is something women’s college basketball has never seen before. Iowa’s 71-69 win over UConn in the national semifinals drew 14.2 million viewers and peaked at 17 million viewers. That set a new women’s college basketball viewership record, which lasted less than 72 hours. Iowa’s win over LSU in the Elite Eight averaged 12.3 million viewers and peaked at 16 million viewers. The Hawkeyes’ win over Colorado in the Sweet 16 averaged 6.9 million viewers. Iowa’s second-round win over West Virginia drew 4.9 million viewers on ESPN, which at the time was the third-largest audience for any women’s tournament…
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