Iowa’s win over LSU in the Elite Eight on Monday shattered the record for the most-watched women’s college basketball game by bringing 12.3 million viewers to ESPN, the cable network said.
It marked ESPN’s most-watched college basketball game on record — men’s or women’s.
The game was a rematch of last year’s national championship game that LSU won 102-85. That showdown held the previous women’s record at 9.9 million viewers on ABC.
For comparison, the highest-rated men’s NCAA Tournament game of the weekend, Alabama-Clemson, drew 7.79 million viewers on cable (TBS).
The second duel between Caitlin Clark’s Hawkeyes and Angel Reese’s Tigers peaked at 16 million viewers, per The Athletic. Clark, who broke the all-time Division I scoring record among several other marks throughout the year, poured in 41 points and had 12 assists as Iowa gained revenge with a 94-87 victory in Albany, N.Y.
Iowa advanced to the Final Four in Cleveland and will face UConn there Friday, with undefeated South Carolina and North Carolina State set to meet in the other Final Four game.
The Elite Eight game scored historic marks for more than television ratings. FanDuel reported that the Hawkeyes’ victory was the most bet-on event of the day, beating out all NBA, MLB and NHL games, and 28 percent higher than last year’s championship game.
Meanwhile, BetMGM said it was the most bet-on women’s sporting event in the sportsbook’s history, also beating out LSU’s win in last year’s title game.
–Field Level Media