South Carolina-Iowa NCAA championship game sets new ratings record

*South Carolina players and coaches celebrate after beating Iowa on Sunday in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)/The Washington Post*

The South Carolina Gamecocks and Iowa’s Caitlin Clark set a new television ratings record, Geoffrey C. Arnold reports for The Oregonian/OregonLive.

The NCAA women’s national championship game between South Carolina and Iowa on ESPN and ABC drew 18.7 million viewers, making it the most-watched women’s basketball game in U.S. history, ESPN said Monday.

The championship game was the most-watched basketball game (men’s or women’s, college or pro) since the 2019 NCAA men’s championship game, which averaged 19.63 million viewers.

The 2024 national championship game peaked with 24 million viewers, ESPN said.

The game featured the record-setting Clark attempting to win her first national championship in her final collegiate game. In addition, the Gamecocks were attempting to complete an undefeated season and become just the 10th team to finish the season unbeaten.

The Gamecocks’ 87-75 win over the Hawkeyes was South Carolina’s third national championship under coach Dawn Staley and they became the 10th team in women’s college basketball history to finish a season unbeaten.

The number of viewers for the national championship eclipsed the previous record of 14.2 million viewers who watched Clark and the Hawkeyes defeat Connecticut in a national semifinal game on Friday. ESPN reported that the viewership of UConn-Iowa peaked at 17 million viewers.

The Iowa-UConn game broke the previous record of 12.3 million viewers who watched Iowa defeat LSU in an Elite Eight matchup on April 1.

The increase in viewers isn’t all because of Clark. Games not involving Iowa averaged an increase of 74% during the tournament, according to ESPN.