Connecticut’s emphatic win over Purdue in Monday’s men’s national championship game averaged 14.8 million viewers, Turner Sports said Tuesday, a slight uptick from the Huskies’ 2023 win over San Diego State.
Last year’s title game recorded 14.69 million viewers and was the least-watched men’s title game on record.
By contrast, the women’s national championship game of Iowa-South Carolina drew a record 18.9 million viewers and peaked at 24.1 million, marking the first time women’s title game viewership outpaced the men’s. Viewership for the women’s championship increased 90 percent from 2023 and 289 percent from 2022.
This is from @nielsen — it highlights how historical this women’s Tournament was as far as interest.
I know I’ve said this on this site a thousand times: There’s $$$ sitting there for companies, outlets, individuals if they invest (smartly) in women’s college basketball. Let’s… pic.twitter.com/t4CFP7QYvF
— Richard Deitsch (@richarddeitsch) April 9, 2024
The second consecutive low-viewership number for the men’s title game shouldn’t be much of a surprise. If you are looking for whys, there are a couple of educated guesses.
First, the game was hurt by a large margin of victory. UConn led by as many as 18 points in the 75-60 victory….
