UConn vs. Iowa March Madness game viewership reaches an all-time high, surpassing Iowa-LSU by nearly TWO MILLION in women’s record

Friday night’s Final Four clash between UConn and Iowa was the most-watched women’s college basketball game of all time, as its peak 17 million viewers surpassed the viewership records set by Iowa-LSU just ago. few days.

According ESPNwhich broadcast the game, UConn-Iowa garnered an average of 14.3 million viewers, also representing the highest viewership on record for any ESPN basketball game.

The game is also ESPN’s second-best non-soccer television broadcast, he said, trailing only the U.S. men’s national team’s game against Portugal in the 2014 World Cup (18.2 million viewers).

Just on Monday, Iowa and LSU set a women’s college basketball viewership record when an average of 12.3 million viewers tuned in to their Elite 8 matchup.

To put UConn-Iowa in perspective, it saw more viewers than every World Series and NBA Finals game last year, and all but five college football games in 2023, as Atlético’s Richard Deitsch he pointed.

On Friday, Iowa rallied to beat UConn after a slow start from Hawkeyes star Caitlin Clark.

Clark, who was named AP Player of the Year for the second consecutive season, scored just six points in the first half, but came alive in the second half to finish with 21 points, nine rebounds and seven assists.

Iowa is still seeking its first national championship after falling to LSU in the finals last year, and will face South Carolina for the crown on Sunday.

That matchup will also be a rematch of last year’s national semifinal, which Iowa won 77-73.

South Carolina, the 2017 and 2022 champions, advanced to the finals by beating NC State 78-59.

That game attracted less than half of UConn-Iowa’s audience (7.1 million people), but still marked the third-best women’s national semifinal on record according to ESPN.