It’s official. For the first time in history of the national championship, the women’s game had more viewers than that of the men’s game. The Iowa Hawkeyes and South Carolina Gamecocks were at the center of it, as they beat the numbers of the UConn Huskies vs. Purdue Boilermakers game.
Sure enough, though, with the star power in the women’s game headlined by Caitlin Clark, it’s not a big surprise.
Iowa Hawkeyes vs. South Carolina Gamecocks Viewership Numbers
For those who missed it, the Iowa-South Carolina game recorded an average viewership of 18.7 million on ESPN, making it the most-watched women’s college basketball game of all time.
Making things even better, it is the most-watched basketball game at any level–be it college, the WNBA or NBA–over the last five years. Furthermore, on US television, it is actually the second-most watched women’s sporting event ever, only behind the 2015 Women’s World Cup Final.
The game actually peaked ay 24 million viewers, highlighting the popularity of the women’s game today. As a result, even Clark herself couldn’t be more hyped up with the result.
UConn Huskies vs. Purdue Boilermakers Viewership Numbers
In comparison, the men’s title showdown between the UConn Huskies and Purdue Boilermakers on Monday generated 14.8 million viewers. That is still great for sure, as it is up from the 14.69 million viewers that the UConn-San Diego State game drew in 2023.
Still, it pales in comparison to what the women’s game had. For what it’s worth, Caitlin Clark and the Iowa Hawkeyes’ Final Four battle with the UConn Huskies women’s team had a closer viewership to the men’s game with 14.2 million. This only further proves that women’s basketball has surpassed the men’s game in level of interest, at least this 2024.
As mentioned, the numbers made some history for the NCAA women’s tournament. After all, it is the first time ever that a women’s national championship had more viewers than the men’s game.
“Last night’s UConn-Purdue national championship game averaged 14.8 million viewers. That means the women’s national championship game had more viewers than the men’s for the first time ever,” Joe Pompliano of The Joe Pomp show confirmed.
Again, the numbers of the men’s championship game are not bad by any means. Nonetheless, it’s also great to see women’s college basketball getting some much-deserved recognition and attention. Before, no one is even talking about them. Now, they are all the buzz.
Hopefully, this is only the start of the rise of women’s basketball.
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