18.7 million: Early figures from NCAA women’s title game make it most-watched hoops game in 5 years

2024-12-25 13:54:25 source: category:Invest

BRISTOL, Conn. (AP) — South Carolina’s victory over Caitlin Clark and Iowa in Sunday’s women’s NCAA championship game had a preliminary audience average of 18.7 million on ABC and ESPN. The only sporting events in the United States to draw a bigger TV audience since 2019 have been football, the World Cup and the Olympics.

The audience numbers are expected to increase when Nielsen releases its final numbers on Tuesday. Nielsen says the audience peaked at 24 million.

It’s the most-watched basketball game since 2019, when the men’s NCAA title game between Virginia and Texas Tech averaged 19.6 million on CBS.

Clark and Iowa have the three top audiences for women’s basketball. The Hawkeyes’ victory over UConn Friday night averaged 14.2 million, and their April 1 victory over LSU in the Elite Eight, a rematch of last year’s title game, drew 12.3 million.

The audience for the national title game was up 89% over last year, when Clark and Iowa fell to LSU. And it was 285% bigger than the viewership for the Gamecocks’ title two years ago, when they beat UConn.

The last NBA game to draw at least 18 million was Game 6 of the 2019 Finals between the Toronto Raptors and Golden State Warriors (18.34 million).

___

AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-womens-bracket/ and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness

More:Invest

Recommend

Britney Spears Reunites With Son Jayden Federline After His Move to Hawaii

Britney Spears is one lucky mother.Especially because the "Stronger" singer had the chance to reunit

Archaeologists in Panama find ancient tomb filled with gold treasure — and sacrificial victims

Researchers have uncovered an ancient lord's tomb filled with gold treasure —and sacrificial victims

Andre Agassi Serves Up Rare Insight Into His and Steffi Graff’s Winning Marriage

Andre Agassi has found his perfect match.  In something that feels like it came straight out of a sp