South Carolina-Iowa showdown for women's basketball title shatters record with 18.7 million viewers
Sunday's NCAA women's basketball national championship game broke historic ground with a record-setting 18.7 million viewers, as the media frenzy surrounding Iowa superstar Caitlin Clark helped draw new eyes to the sport.
Sunday's NCAA women's basketball national championship game broke historic ground with a record-setting 18.7 million viewers, as the media frenzy surrounding Iowa superstar Caitlin Clark helped draw new eyes to the sport.
South Carolina beat Iowa 87-75 at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland. It was the most-watched basketball game since 2019, pro or college, the network said.
"With a record-setting audience of 18.7 million viewers, Sunday’s Iowa-South Carolina title game was a fitting finale to the most-viewed ever NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament,” ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro said in a statement. "These exceptional athletes, coaches and teams captured our attention in unprecedented ways and it’s incumbent on all of us to keep the incredible momentum going."
On Friday, the semifinal matchup between Iowa and Connecticut had 14.2 million viewers, more than every World Series game or NBA Finals game last year.
Iowa beat UConn 71-69 on Friday.
Rating: 5