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UConn and South Carolina’s Championship Rematch Produced Huge Viewership

For women's sports, the roaring 2020s continue.

Patrick Andres

Geno Auriemma talks to reporters after the national championship.
Geno Auriemma talks to reporters after the national championship. / Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images
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Anyone who thought of the 2020s women's sports boom as a fad had their speculations put firmly to rest Monday afternoon.

UConn's 82–59 win over South Carolina in the national championship Sunday afternoon drew 8.5 million viewers to ABC, ESPN said in a press release. That's the third-largest television audience in the national championship's three-decade stint under ESPN's stewardship.

While a decline from the bonkers numbers of the last two years—fueled by ex-Iowa guard Caitlin Clark—the figure suggests considerable staying power for an appreciating asset. Both national championship coaches have called for the NCAA to spin the women's tournament off its big-tent TV deal with the network.

ESPN listed the tournament overall as the third-most watched on record, while its 8.5 billion "minutes consumed" ranked as the second-most ever.

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Patrick Andres
PATRICK ANDRES

Patrick Andres is a staff writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He joined SI in December 2022, having worked for The Blade, Athlon Sports, Fear the Sword and Diamond Digest. Andres has covered everything from zero-attendance Big Ten basketball to a seven-overtime college football game. He is a graduate of Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism with a double major in history .

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