Iowa-South Carolina NCAA women’s final draws record 18.7 million viewers

The NCAA Women’s Championship between Iowa and South Carolina set a record on Sunday, drawing 18.7 million viewers on ABC and ESPN.

The game peaked at 24 million viewers, ESPN said, and was the most-watched NCAA women’s college basketball game since 1992. Viewership jumped 89% from last year’s women’s championship and 285% from 2022, according to ESPN.

The championship, which saw Caitlin Clark-led Iowa fall to South Carolina, was the most-watched basketball game, either men’s or women’s and college or professional, since 2019.

“With a record-setting audience of 18.7 million viewers, Sunday’s Iowa-South Carolina title game was a fitting finale to the most-viewed ever NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament,” said ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro in a statement. “These exceptional athletes, coaches and teams captured our attention in unprecedented ways and it’s incumbent on all of us to keep the incredible momentum going.”

The semifinals between Iowa and the University of Connecticut last week also shattered viewership records, peaking at 17 million viewers, according to ESPN.