NCAA Tournament ratings hit records despite lack of upsets

Field Level Media|published: Tue 25th March, 20:42 2025

An average of 15.3 million viewers watched Kentucky, including guard Collin Chandler (5), face Illinois Sunday during second-round NCAA Tournament action at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, according to Nielsen.

The lack of upsets during the first week of the NCAA Tournament led to discourse about whether NIL and the transfer portal are hurting the sport in the long run.

None of that stopped the tournament from hitting some record numbers for viewership.

The first two rounds of the tournament averaged 9.4 million viewers per game across CBS, TNT, TBS and truTV -- the highest average audience for the first week since 1993, according to Nielsen on Tuesday. That was up by 4 percent on last year's mark of 9.04 million.

The tournament set an opening-day record Thursday by averaging 9.1 million viewers, per Nielsen. The momentum continued into the Round of 32 with an average viewership of 10.2 million over the weekend, making it the most-watched Round of 32 since 2017.

Part of the equation: In 2020, Nielsen began counting out-of-home viewership at establishments such as restaurants and sports bars. The number of high-profile programs playing -- including Duke, Kentucky, UCLA and UConn -- may also have contributed along with a high-interest matchup Saturday between Rick Pitino's St. John's squad and John Calipari's victorious Arkansas Razorbacks.

Kentucky's second-round win over Illinois on Sunday drew an average of 15.3 million viewers, Nielsen found.

The First Four round (the quartet of play-in games on Tuesday and Wednesday) also did a record 7.4 million viewers on TruTV.

--Field Level Media