The Women’s March Madness final between LSU and Iowa on Sunday night averaged 9.9 million viewers, which is a WNCAA game record. A 103% increase compared to last year’s final between South Carolina and UCONN, which had an average of 4.85 million viewers.
The previous viewership record was 5.68 million average viewers for the 2002 final between UCONN and Oklahoma, when the Huskies featured two of the future greatest players in history, Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi.
There are several reasons for this record. First of all, LSU and Iowa are two programs that have never won a national title before. Then, of course, there is the presence of the star in the making, Caitlin Clark, which alone is a show. But also that of Kim Mulkey, LSU coach, who had led Baylor to the NCAA title three times (2005, 2012, 2019). She joined LSU in 2021 after 21 years at Baylor, with the goal of getting the holy grail. All these reasons prompted ABC, the national channel, to broadcast the meeting, whereas usually it is at its little sister ESPN, available on cable.
The rise of women’s basketball
A successful bet given the audience for the final, the peak of which even reached 12.6 million viewers. It’s also the most-watched college sports event on ESPN+, the channel’s streaming platform! We had already felt the beginnings during the semi-final between Iowa and South Carolina, which had been watched by 5.5 million viewers on average, the highest audience ever recorded for a semi-final.
Recall that, on the ground, it was LSU that triumphed over Iowa to win its first NCAA title in front of more than 19,000 spectators gathered at the American Airlines Center in Dallas. Figures that confirm the growing growth of women’s basketball in the United States, at university and in the WNBA.
