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Iowa women’s basketball TV ratings are outdrawing every NBA Finals, World Series game over the last year.
The 2024 women’s NCAA tournament has captivated audiences across America, and Caitlin Clark and the Iowa Hawkeyes are leading the charge. Iowa is shattering TV ratings records on their way to the national championship game, and the numbers are staggering even compared to the top championship games in professional men’s sports.
Iowa’s win over LSU in the Elite Eight drew 12.3 million viewers, making it one of the most watched games of the past year excluding the NFL. There was a natural built-in storyline after LSU beat Iowa in the national championship game a year ago, and viewers flocked to their TVs to see if Clark and Co. could get redemption. Somehow, Iowa’s next game against the UConn Huskies drew even more viewers.
With Clark and UConn guard Paige Bueckers facing off for a superstar showdown, the Hawkeyes vs. the Huskies put up numbers that topped every NBA Finals and World Series game from last year. The game averaged 14.2 million viewers, and peaked at 17 million, according to Richard Deitsch with The Athletic.
To put this in perspective. This game tops…
• Every World Series game last year.
• Every NBA Finals game last year.
• Every Daytona 500 since 2013.
• Every Masters final round viewership since 2013.
• All but five CFB games in 2023. https://t.co/i7e3G7DWSK
— Richard Deitsch (@richarddeitsch) April 6, 2024
Iowa beat UConn, 71-69, on a controversial ending that continued to make the game the talk of the sports world all weekend. On the Huskies final possession, big Aaliyah Edwards was called for a moving screen that effectively ended the game. There were immediately allegations that the game was rigged for Iowa, but closer looks at the play have proven it was the correct call. If anything, the refs should be lauded for making such a difficult call in that situation.
Iowa now faces an undefeated South Carolina team for the national championship. The Hawkeyes beat South Carolina in the Final Four last season before their eventual loss to LSU. This Gamecocks team is bigger and better. South Carolina enters the game as a 6.5 point favorite.
It’s not just Iowa that’s drawing ratings. The UConn vs. USC Elite Eight game drew 6.7 million viewers with a 10.4 million peak, according to The Athletic. South Carolina’s destruction of NC State averaged 7.1 million viewers, per ESPN, third-most-watched women’s Final Four game since 1992.
Iowa women’s basketball has never won a national championship. Can Clark deliver one? You can bet most of the country will be tuning in to find out.
Iowa vs. South Carolina women’s national championship: Start time, TV channel, streaming, and more
Date: Sunday, April 7
Time: 3 p.m. ET
Location: Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse in Cleveland, Ohio
TV: ABC
Stream: Watch ESPN
Odds: South Carolina -6.5
