Topline
Monday’s rematch of last year’s national championship game between Iowa and LSU drew a record-setting 12.3 million viewers, ESPN announced Tuesday—shattering the record for women’s college basketball viewership.
Key Facts
Monday night’s game was the most-watched college basketball game ever on ESPN platforms, the network announced in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, Tuesday afternoon.
Iowa beat LSU 94-87—with Iowa star Caitlin Clark putting up 41 points—on Monday in the Elite 8 game in Albany, New York.
The previous record was held by last year’s championship game—which drew an average of 9.9 million viewers and a peak of 12.6 million—that aired on ABC in which LSU beat Iowa 102-85.
Iowa and LSU drew more viewership than last year’s World Series, which had an average of 9.1 million viewers a game, and more than the average of the 2023 NBA Finals, which drew an average of 11.64 million a game.
What To Watch For
Viewership numbers for the Final Four. Last year’s women’s semifinal between Iowa and South Carolina drew an average of 5.5 million viewers, according to The Athletic. This year, South Carolina plays North Carolina State in the first game of the Final Four at 7 p.m. ET on Friday, and Iowa plays Connecticut at 9:30 p.m. ET.
Surprising Fact
Women’s tickets to the Final Four and championship games cost, on average, more than tickets to the men’s Final Four and championship, according to secondary market data from ticket sales company TicketiQ. As of Tuesday morning’s data, the average resale price for this year’s semifinals Friday in the women’s tournament was $1,994, and the average price for men’s semifinals was $1,603.
Tangent
On Tuesday, ESPN announced this year’s women’s Sweet 16 was the most watched on record, up 96% from last year. The Sweet 16 games had four of the five most watched women’s Sweet 16 games on record, ESPN said, and the matchup between Colorado and Iowa drew 6.9 million viewers, making it one of the most watched women’s basketball games since 1995.
Big Number
6.7 billion. That’s how many minutes of viewership the NCAA Division I Women’s Tournament had through the Sweet 16, setting a record high, according to ESPN.
