South Carolina vs Iowa Game Breaks Viewership Records

Girl Power

In a bit of stunning NCAAW news, more viewers tuned in to see the Iowa women’s basketball team take on the South Carolina Gamecocks women’s squad than any basketball game in the last five years. The 18.7 million viewers who watched the Tigers defeat the Hawkeyes, 87-75, proved to be a bigger audience than not only any men’s or women’s collegiate basketball game during that span but it topped viewership of any NBA game as well.

South Carolina and Iowa’s National Championship game averaged a record 18.7 MILLION viewers on ABC and ESPN.

That’s more than any other basketball game—women’s, men’s, college, or pro—in five years. pic.twitter.com/NfeSyvdvnD

— Front Office Sports (@FOS) April 8, 2024

It was the third time Caitlin Clark and her Iowa Hawkeye teammates broke a viewership record as the rematch of last year’s title tilt between Iowa and LSU in the Elite Eight broke a women’s college basketball viewership record with 12.3 million viewers, peaking at more than 16.1 million viewers.

But that record didn’t last long as Clark and her mates met UConn in the Final Four and eclipsed that mark with 14.2 million viewers which peaked at roughly 17 million, and became ESPN’s most-viewed basketball game regardless of level or gender.

However, the 2024 championship game between Iowa and South Carolina saw its audience numbers soar above any men’s game, collegiate or pro, since 2019 as the broadcast reached a high of 24 million viewers. The switch from ESPN to ABC also helped the cause as the latter reaches far more households than the sports media giant’s TV network.

The National Championship between South Carolina and Iowa set a new record for viewership in a women’s college basketball game 👏

◽️ 18.7 million avg. viewers
◽️ 24 million peak viewers pic.twitter.com/JoIBbi9Y1U

— The Sporting News (@sportingnews) April 8, 2024

Star Power

Caitlin Clark was undeniably the audience magnet after setting a career collegiate scoring record that had stood for over 50 years with the late Pete Maravich holding the mark since 1970. Unfortunately, Clark’s fairytale season ended the same way it did last year as her team fell to LSU in the finals in 2023 and to South Carolina this year.

FEELING PERFECT 🤩 #NationalChampionship x @GamecockWBB pic.twitter.com/VJoYnNSgwi

— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessWBB) April 8, 2024

Despite Clark’s two near-misses of capturing a national championship, the soon-to-be No. 1 overall pick in the WNBA Draft says she regrets nothing after her historic career as a member of the Iowa Hawkeyes.

“There’s not a regret in my mind of how things went,” Clark told reporters after the game. “I’ll be able to sleep every night even though I never won a national championship.”

Caitlin Clark could have gone almost anywhere. She chose Iowa.

After four years, an unprecedented impact, but no national championships, she doesn’t regret a thing.

“…She came in as a freshman and she said ‘we’re going to the Final Four,’ and a lot of people laughed at her.” pic.twitter.com/0jZVxmWprA

— Jack Lido (@JackLido) April 8, 2024

As for the enormous ratings her games drew, Clarks said, “When you’re given an opportunity, women’s sports just kind of thrives. I think that’s been the coolest thing for me on this journey.

“We started our season playing in front of 55,000 people in Kinnick Stadium. And now we’re ending it playing in front of probably 15 million people or more on TV. It just continues to get better and better and better. That’s never going to stop,” Clark added.