Posted on 04/08/2024 2:43:34 PM PDT by Kazan
ABC's telecast of South Carolina's win over Iowa is the most watched basketball game, college or pro, since 2019.
For the third time in seven days, the NCAA women’s basketball tournament drew its largest audience ever.
Some 18.7 million people watched South Carolina cap an undefeated season by beating Iowa, 87-75, in Sunday’s championship game, according to preliminary Nielsen ratings (which may edge up when final numbers come in early Tuesday). The audience is the largest ever for a women’s basketball game in the United States — and among the biggest for any women’s team sporting event.
Sunday’s broadcast on ABC and ESPN is the third record-setter for women’s basketball in the past week: The Elite Eight matchup between Iowa and LSU (a rematch of last year’s final) drew 12.3 million viewers on April 1, and the Hawkeyes’ Final Four win over Connecticut Friday surpassed that with 14.2 million people watching.
The common factor in all three is Iowa and its star player Caitlin Clark, who brought huge attention to the women’s game as she surpassed NCAA scoring records this season. But the gains for the tournament this year, which more than doubled last year’s average, aren’t all because of that: games not involving Iowa averaged about 74 percent more viewers than a year ago, according to ESPN.
Sunday’s telecast is the most watched basketball game — college or pro, men’s or women’s — since the 2019 NCAA men’s championship game, which averaged 19.63 million viewers. It’s also the second most watched women’s sporting event (outside of the Olympics) on record, behind only the 2015 World Cup final between the United States and Japan (a combined 26.7 million viewers on Fox and Telemundo). The 1999 World Cup title match drew just under 18 million viewers on ABC.
Those numbers are all dwarfed by the first night of the women’s figure skating competition at the 1994 Olympics. Fueled by the Nancy Kerrigan-Tonya Harding saga, CBS drew 78.7 million viewers that night — a figure only Super Bowl telecasts have surpassed. Other women’s figure skating and gymnastics competitions in the Olympics have also topped the 2015 World Cup.
Viewing figures for Saturday’s men’s Final Four on TBS weren’t available at publication time.
The point is that values matter.
I thought it was the most watched game in ESPN history?
w/o pointing out that ESPN doesn’t show the men’s semifinals.
She outdrew the NBA Championship games-w/o pointing out the pandemic.
Great for ESPN/ABC/Disney garnering such high ratings in a sport being wholly subsidized by men.
Now she’ll earn a living in a league wholly subsidized by men.
and somehow this is retribution against the wokesters.
ESPN did show the NBA Conference finals, including the one in 2018 when LeBron James was at the height of his popularity. And, that game failed to draw as many fans as the Iowa-UCONN game did.
Guarantee it won’t get those ratings next year.
She outdrew EVERY NBA finals game SINCE the pandemic.
Caitlin should blow off the racist and anti-straight WNBA and make her fortune in other ways.
“Regardless anyone that thinks women’s basketball is inferior, that fact is that a white, Catholic, patriotic girl from Iowa is drew more viewers than any other basketball game since 2019, outdrawing any of the woke, anthem-kneeling NBA finals games during that period.
The point is that values matter.”
I think it’s due to the novelty of such values in a largely value-free media/sports environment. I’d be very surprised if the viewership for women’s collegiate basketball doesn’t revert to prior levels after she’s gone.
People were pulling for the white player. Didn’t watch but was hoping she would win just to piss off the mediots.
+1
Pulling for her also for her hard-earned merits having nothing to do with skin color. And this would include people who don’t share her skin color. Or relative lack thereof as it were.
The NCAA men’s semifinals. Remember just two days ago touting ESPN ratings while omitting ABC is the flagship station for basketball and not ESPN.
If James was at his peak by definition she is not outdrawing him.
But hey when they bastardize NBA seasons in a bubble, she out drew the NBA finals!!!!
I agree. The ratings were solely because of Caitlyn Clark.
Jason Whitlock recommended the same thing.
Assuming she makes the Women’s Olympic Team, I wonder how much interest that will generate.
And, because she's heterosexual, Catholic and stands for the national anthem.
Basketball fans are sick woke, racist, anthem kneelers that hate the country.
The finals since the pandemic meaning Heat v Nuggets and Celtics v Warriors or no Lebron James.
I appreciate the support of woke on top of woke.
Suddenly it’s time top brush up on ratings and compare her to Lebron James.
A lot, I would think. Bet the network will be pushing for her to get on the team (and bring huge ratings). With her talent, Caitlin should make the team anyway.
“ Caitlin should blow off the racist and anti-straight WNBA and make her fortune in other ways.”
She’s making $3,000,000 now in endorsement money while in college.
I don’t think she will be as popular in the WNBA for the reason you mentioned
The real test of Kaitlin Clark's real star power is if she will have a meaningful positive impact on the BBLL {black basketball lesbian league} and their TV and game day drawing power.
If you have watched any of the BBLL TV talking heads over the past couple of months, you been able to see the HUGE and double HUGH CHIP on their collective shoulders.
The league can't draw flies and so it must be my fault, an old white guy that doesn't want to watch basketball, men or women.
I may watch a few replays of tonight's final and catch a few nba playoff games, but I and most TV watching Americans, have no real interest.
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