“March Madness” has never lived up to its name so well. Sunday evening, while the women's university final between South Carolina and Iowa was in full swing, the general public and the networks with it were fired up for this meeting and the new (insufficient) performance of Caitlin Clark. Even LeBron James was behind his screen and enjoyed the show by sharing his admiration for the extraordinary shooter from Iowa.
In terms of audience, we expected a success in view of previous figures, in particular the semi-final which recorded a peak of 16 million viewers. Ultimately, the 2024 NCAA final will go down in history as the most watched American college basketball game in women's history!
A record for a basketball match since 2019!
With 18.7 million viewers recorded on ABC and ESPN, the final between Iowa and South Carolina exceeded all expectations. No basketball meeting, girls and boys alike, university or professional, has recorded such a score since 2019! This is also a jump of 89% compared to the 2023 women's NCAA final and 285% compared to that of 2022.
The most impressive figure undoubtedly concerns the peak reached this Sunday during the final. While we were expecting a peak of around 20 million viewers, it was ultimately 24 million viewers who found themselves simultaneously behind their screens!
This is therefore the second best audience in history for a women's collective competition, behind the 26.7 million viewers who watched the United States win the Football World Cup in 2015.
