UCLA's championship win drew 3rd-highest rating for women's final

Field Level Media|published: Wed 8th April, 24:02 2026

The UCLA Bruins celebrate their 79-51 win over the South Carolina Gamecocks to claim the NCAA women's basketball national championship at Mortgage Matchup Center in Phoenix on April 5, 2026.

UCLA's romp to the Women's NCAA Tournament championship against South Carolina on Sunday, despite the one-sided score, drew the third-highest rating for a women's title game, ESPN announced on Tuesday.

The Bruins' 79-51 victory over the Gamecocks drew an average of 9.9 million viewers with a peak of 10.7 million viewers. That was a 15% gain on the 2025 final in which UConn downed South Carolina 82-59.

The record for a women's championship game was set in 2024 when 18.9 million viewers on average and 24.1 million at its peak saw South Carolina defeat Iowa. The 2023 final, in which LSU topped Iowa, attracted 9.92 million on average, with a peak of 12.6 million.

Both the 2023 and 2024 games featured popular Iowa star Caitlyn Clark.

As a whole, this year's Final Four was the second-most watched since ESPN became the broadcaster in 1996. The three games this year drew an average of 6.7 million viewers.

South Carolina took down top overall seed UConn 62-48 in the semifinals, with 5.4 million tuning in on average, peaking at 7.7 million. The rating was up 47% from the corresponding game last year.

In the other semifinal, UCLA beat Texas 51-44 in another matchup of No. 1 seeds, drawing 5 million viewers on average with a high of 5.2 million. The game saw a 19% viewership increase from the corresponding 2025 contest.

This year's two semifinals were the fourth- and fifth-most viewed semis in the ESPN era.

--Field Level Media

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