Iowa-South Carolina Game Sets Viewership Record

The University of South Carolina’s victory over Iowa in the NCAA women’s basketball championship set a new viewership record for women’s college basketball, attracting an average of 18.7 million viewers. This game became the most-watched basketball match since 2019, including both men’s and women’s games at the professional and college levels. It peaked at 24 million viewers, making it the most-watched spring sporting event since 2019, excluding football and the Olympics.

The championship game, in which South Carolina defeated Iowa 87-75, featured a showdown between South Carolina and its star senior guard Caitlin Clark. This victory marked South Carolina’s second NCAA women’s basketball championship win in three years.

This championship game was the second most-watched non-Olympic women’s sporting event of all time, only behind the 2015 Women’s World Cup Final, which had 25.4 million viewers.

Iowa broke the viewership record for women’s college basketball three times in the last week. It first broke the record in its rematch against LSU on April 1, drawing 12.3 million viewers, then again on April 5 in its Final Four game against UConn, with 14.2 million viewers, before breaking it a final time in Sunday’s championship game.

The championship game saw an 89% increase in viewership compared to last year’s match between Iowa and LSU, and a 285% increase compared to the 2022 championship featuring South Carolina and UConn.

Many are curious if the support for women’s basketball will transfer to the WNBA, as star players such as Caitlin Clark, Kamilla Cardoso, and Angel Reese have all declared for the April 15 draft. It remains to be seen if the followings they grew in college will transition to their professional careers in a league that typically faces lower viewership than the NBA.