The 2023 Women’s NCAA Tournament took center stage over the weekend, and the sport enjoyed its most watched Final Four and National Championship game ever.
There were story lines aplenty. Iowa’s Caitlyn Clark had become the darling of the tournament, dropping a historic performance in the Elite 8 and capturing the attention of the nation.
LSU vs. Iowa Is Most Watched NCAA Women’s Basketball Game Of All Time
𝐉𝐔𝐒𝐓 𝐈𝐍: LSU vs. Iowa saw a record viewership of 9.9 million viewers, per @ESPNPR.
➖most-viewed NCAA Division I Women’s College Basketball game ever
➖up 103% year-over-year
➖peaked at 12.6M viewers
➖most-viewed college event ever on ESPN+ (Men’s or Women’s)— Boardroom (@boardroom) April 3, 2023
She would test her dominance against a South Carolina team that was the outright favorite to win the championship, and Clark’s Hawkeyes overcame being 11.5 point underdogs to pull off the upset. The stage was set for the showdown in the National Championship.
The game lived up to the billing. LSU hit a barrage of three-pointers in the first half, extending a lead that they would never relinquish. The fireworks after the game and the subsequent reaction by the media have put the women’s game on the forefront of the headlines, for better or for worse.
This year's NCAA Women's National Championship game between Iowa & LSU averaged the exact same number of viewers (9.9 million) as the 2021 NBA Finals.
That is so incredibly impressive.
— Joe Pompliano (@JoePompliano) April 3, 2023
But there is no denying the renewed interest in women’s college basketball. The sport has fought for years for relevance, trying to compete with the men’s game for viewership and interest, and seemingly making little progress from year to year.
Things changed in 2023, and the numbers are extremely impressive.
Women’s Game Should Only Grow From Here
The game between LSU and Iowa that took place on Sunday afternoon was the most-watched women’s NCAA game ever. It’s official viewership number was 9.9 million, peaking at 12.6 million at one point. It was a 103% increase from the game that happened just one year ago.
The NCAA Women's National Championship's 9.9 million viewers are more than:
▪️ Any Women's CBB game ever
▪️ Any MLS game ever
▪️ Any Stanley Cup game since 1973
▪️ The 2023 Orange Bowl
▪️ The 2023 Sugar Bowl
▪️ 2023 Thursday Night Football
▪️ The 2021 NBA Finals
▪️ The 2020… pic.twitter.com/X6MGXYkflQ— Front Office Sports (@FOS) April 4, 2023
How does that stack up against other events? It is more than any Stanley Cup game since 1973, and more viewers than watched the 2021 NBA Finals. More people watched the 2023 NCAA Women’s National Championship than watched the 2020 World Series, the 2023 Orange Bowl, and the 2023 Sugar Bowl.
Things should only get better from here, too. There are now established story lines for people to follow going into next season, and some of the same characters will be there. Clark was a junior had will return to Iowa for another run at a title, and Angel Reese will be entering her junior year in 2023-24.
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