Sunday’s National Championship Game between the South Carolina Gamecocks and Caitlin Clark’s Iowa Hawkeyes generated a preliminary audience average of 18.7 million on ABC and ESPN. Since 2019, only the World Cup, the Olympics and football have drawn a larger audience in the United States.
According to Nielsen, the game had 24 million viewers at its peak — and the 18.7 million number is expected to increase when Nielsen releases its final numbers on Tuesday.
Dating back to 2019, South Carolina’s triumph is the most watched game since Virginia knocked off Texas Tech in the National Championship Game — that showdown tallied 19.6 million viewers on CBS.
Clark’s stardom certainly helped boost ratings, as Iowa has the three top audiences for women’s basketball this year. In addition to the National Championship, Iowa drew 14.2 million viewers in its Final Four showdown with UConn and 12.3 million against LSU in the Elite Eight.
Amazingly, Sunday’s game saw an 89-percent increase compared to last year’s title game between LSU and Iowa. Compared to South Carolina’s victory in the 2022 National Championship, Sunday’s game saw a 285-percent increase.
If Clark’s star power wasn’t evident through the massive rating, perhaps this will make it clear: Despite not being a member of a WNBA team, teams across the WNBA are promoting the night that Clark — the presumed No. 1 overall pick of the Indiana Fever — will be in their town.
