Women’s NCAA title game draws 18.7M viewers, setting records

Field Level Media|published: 04/08/2024, 5:21pm EDT

Apr 7, 2024; Cleveland, OH, USA; South Carolina Gamecocks head coach Dawn Staley reacts during the trophy presentation after defeating the Iowa Hawkeyes in the finals of the Final Four of the womens 2024 NCAA Tournament at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. credits: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports

South Carolina's victory over Iowa in the national championship game Sunday afternoon averaged 18.7 million TV viewers and set new marks inside and outside women's college basketball.

According to ESPN Monday, the broadcast was the most-watched basketball game — college or pro, men's or women's — since 2019, and the most-watched sporting event outside of the Olympics or football since 2019.

The game peaked at 24 million viewers as the Gamecocks completed an undefeated season with an 87-75 win over Caitlin Clark and the Hawkeyes.

It was the third straight Iowa game to break TV ratings records for women's college hoops. The Hawkeyes' Elite Eight win over LSU was a rematch of last year's title game that drew a then-record 9.9 million viewers. The rematch netted 12.3 million viewers.

Then came the Final Four meeting with blueblood UConn on Friday night. That game upped the record to 14.2 million.

—Field Level Media