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Friday’s NCAA women’s basketball tournament national semifinals averaged a very solid 4.5 million viewers on ESPN and across its family of networks. That represents an increase of two-thirds from last year and the highest average on record for the Women’s Final Four.
Even better, Iowa’s upset of previously-undefeated South Carolina and big favorite to win the championship led the way with 5.5 million. That is up 72% from last year (UConn-Stanford: 3.23M) and the most-watched women’s national semifinal on record.
This was the most watched of any of the games in the women's tournament, the National Championship included, since UConn took on Tennessee in the title game back in 2004. That number was $5.6 million.
The Hawkeyes’ win peaked with 6.6 million viewers and ranked third all-time among women’s tournament games on the ESPN family of networks
While sportsbooks are taking bets on the women's tournament, the betting markets remain limited, even the morning of the big game between Iowa and LSU Sunday.
Iowa was coming in as a -3.5 favorite in Sunday's game. BetOnline listed just one other market besides the spread/moneyline/total, the 1st Half Period.
The trend in the popularity of women's basketball really started to become popular last year with the approaching 50th anniversary of Title IX. That wasn't a championship. Instead, it's a law that ensures gender equality in sport.
Forbes noted the following:
The NCAA has been improving the profile of the tournament which began forty years ago. For this year’s tourney, the field grew to 68 schools matching the concurrent men’s tournament and for the first time used the famous moniker “March Madness” to brand the event. The training facilities such as weight rooms were also improved.
We would note that the men's tournament has witnessed an increase in viewership as well this year, albeit not as dramatic.
It increased by 2% year-over-year across CBS Sports, TBS, TNT and TruTV with the opening round of March Madness drawing an average of 8.4 million domestic viewers. That represents an eight-year high for the US-based National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) men's basketball tournament.
It remains to be seen how either the women's or men's Championship games fare in terms of viewership. Iowa Hawkeyes Caitlin Clark is truly making a name for herself. She scored a national semifinal record 41 points for the 77-73 upset over the Gamecocks.
SDSU vs. UConn in the men's National Championship is likely to score much higher ratings than say FAU vs. Miami as the later would be an intrastate competition with limited viewership. SDSU-Connecticut should draw more of a national audience, not to mention one of these is a California team. That's the most populated state in the US.
- Don Shapiro, Gambling911.com
