More People Watch Women's College Hoops National Title Than Alabama In Sugar Bowl As LSU/Iowa Audience Shatters Record
Sunday's national title game between LSU and Iowa was the most-watched women's college basketball game, ever. To reiterate: the Tigers and Hawkeyes had more people watching their game than any other game in the sport's history.
Roughly 9.9 million viewers had their TVs tuned to ABC for the national championship, with that number peaking at 12.6 million. The ratings number was up 103% year over year, which is bananas.
Women's college basketball is on the come up!
Not only are Sunday's ratings a testament to the superstar that is Caitlin Clark, there is a direct correlation between the product on the court and the amount of people watching, obviously. The Women's NCAA Tournament was packed full of drama from start to finish, and it culminated with a battle between two polarizing programs.
Clark, though, was the biggest draw.
Unfortunately, the powerhouse matchup was slightly marred by the officiating. Where two teams should have been allowed to grind it out, the whistle became a real problem— particularly for Iowa.
In the end, it was LSU that came out on top and Kim Mulkey won her fourth national championship in just her second year with the program. And moments before the final whistle blew, star guard Angel Reese talked her talk, which only created an even larger conversation surrounding the highly-watched game.
People are talking about women's college basketball, and people are excited about women's college basketball. Sunday's numbers are a testament to that interest.
The national championship game out-drew all-but three college football bowl games.
It also out-drew the following:
This may not be the last time that a women's college basketball game out-draws its college football counterparts in the postseason. Reese is just a sophomore. Clark is a junior, with one year left. And that list doesn't even include the Cavinder twins, South Carolina, UConn, Tennessee, and the rest!