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South Carolina-Iowa matchup becomes most-watched basketball game — at any level — since 2019.
New York – April 9, 2024 — An estimated 18.9 million viewers watched the NCAA Women’s Basketball National Championship matchup between the South Carolina Gamecocks and the Iowa Hawkeyes on ABC and ESPN on Sunday, according to Nielsen live-plus-same-day data. Viewership peaked at 24.1 million viewers during the final minutes of the game (between 5:00 – 5:14 PM ET).
The women’s championship game audience stands as the largest in women’s college basketball history, and is the most-watched basketball game — at any level — since 2019. It is also the third women’s basketball viewership record set in the past week, outpacing the 12.3 million viewers that watched the Iowa-LSU Elite Eight matchup on April 1, followed by the Iowa-UConn Final Four game on April 5, which drew 14.2 million viewers.
Viewership to the 2024 women’s championship game was up over 90% compared with the 9.9 million viewers that watched in 2023, and over 288% compared with the 2022 audience.
Meanwhile, an estimated 14.8 million viewers watched the Men’s College Basketball National Championship on Monday, April 8 between the University of Connecticut and Purdue — nearly 4 million less than the women’s championship. This marks the first time in NCAA tournament history that viewership of the women’s championship game was higher than the men’s game.
| NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship Viewership: 1995 – 2024 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Date | Time (ET) | Network(s) | Matchup | Total Viewers P2+ |
| 2024 | Apr 7 | 3:00 PM | ABC, ESPN | S. CAR vs IOWA | 18,867,000 |
| 2023 | Apr 2 | 3:30 PM | ABC, ESPN2 | LSU vs IOWA | 9,915,000 |
| 2022 | Apr 3 | 8:00 PM | ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU | UCONN vs S. CAR | 4,854,000 |
| 2021 | Apr 4 | 6:00 PM | ESPN | AZ vs STAN | 4,128,000 |
| 2019 | Apr 7 | 6:15 PM | ESPN | ND vs BAY | 3,727,000 |
| 2018 | Apr 1 | 6:15 PM | ESPN | ND vs MSST | 3,566,000 |
| 2017 | Apr 2 | 6:11 PM | ESPN | MSST vs SC | 3,829,000 |
| 2016 | Apr 5 | 8:41 PM | ESPN | UCONN vs SYR | 2,972,000 |
| 2015 | Apr 7 | 8:30 PM | ESPN | ND vs UCONN | 3,081,000 |
| 2014 | Apr 8 | 8:30 PM | ESPN | ND vs UCONN | 4,271,000 |
| 2013 | Apr 9 | 8:30 PM | ESPN | LOU vs UCONN | 3,206,000 |
| 2012 | Apr 3 | 8:30 PM | ESPN | ND vs BAY | 4,244,000 |
| 2011 | Apr 5 | 8:30 PM | ESPN | ND vs TAMU | 3,831,000 |
| 2010 | Apr 6 | 8:19 PM | ESPN | STAN vs UCONN | 3,531,000 |
| 2009 | Apr 7 | 8:30 PM | ESPN | UCONN vs LOU | 2,668,000 |
| 2008 | Apr 8 | 8:30 PM | ESPN | STAN vs TENN | 3,858,000 |
| 2007 | Apr 3 | 8:28 PM | ESPN | RUTG vs TENN | 2,918,000 |
| 2006 | Apr 4 | 8:30 PM | ESPN | UMD vs DUKE | 3,587,000 |
| 2005 | Apr 5 | 8:30 PM | ESPN | BAY vs MSU | 3,235,000 |
| 2004 | Apr 6 | 8:28 PM | ESPN | UCONN vs TENN | 5,583,000 |
| 2003 | Apr 8 | 8:30 PM | ESPN | TENN vs UCONN | 4,369,000 |
| 2002 | Mar 31 | 8:30 PM | ESPN | UCONN vs OKLA | 5,681,000 |
| 2001 | Apr 1 | 8:30 PM | ESPN | ND vs PUR | 3,730,000 |
| 2000 | Apr 2 | 8:59 PM | ESPN | TENN vs UCONN | 3,676,000 |
| 1999 | Mar 28 | 8:58 PM | ESPN | DUKE vs PUR | 5,137,000 |
| 1998 | Mar 29 | 8:30 PM | ESPN | LA TECH vs TENN | 3,943,000 |
| 1997 | Mar 30 | 8:30 PM | ESPN | ODU vs TENN | 4,586,000 |
| 1996 | Mar 31 | 6:30 PM | ESPN | TENN vs UGA | 3,515,000 |
| 1995 | Apr 2 | 3:49 PM | CBS | UCONN vs TENN | 7,444,000 |
Source: Nielsen
Time-shifted viewing (Live+Same-Day, 3am-3am) is included in audience estimates in this table for years 2006 and later. Estimates in 2005 and earlier include live viewing only.
The NCAA Tournament was canceled in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Lauren Pabst
lauren.pabst@nielsen.com
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