Women’s Final Four Breaks Ratings Records While Men’s Ratings Drop From 2022

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LSU’s women’s basketball team lifting the Nation Championship Trophy. Photo: by Allen Kee/ESPN Images

Both the Men’s and Women’s NCAA Basketball Tournaments have ended. UConn’s men and LSU’s women have lifted their trophies and will be celebrating until next season. Now is a time to reflect on both tournaments and review how successful they were both on the court as well as on television.

The Women’s National Championship was extremely successful, breaking TV rating records. Sunday’s (April 2) championship game between LSU and Iowa averaged 9.9 million viewers on ABC and ESPN2, per Nielsen fast-nationals — up 103 percent  from South Carolina vs. UConn on ESPN and ESPN2 last year (4.85M)—and was easily the most-watched title game in the history of the women’s tournament (records date back to 1992).

The Tigers’ win, which peaked with 12.6 million viewers, easily outdrew the previous tournament record of 8.1 million for a Virginia-Stanford national semifinal on CBS in 1992. It was the first women’s title game on broadcast television since 1995, when CBS drew 7.44 million for UConn-Tennessee.

March Madness was a major success for the women in 2023 with other record-breaking games, like Miami vs. Texas in the Elite Eight which averaged 11.30 million viewers and Michigan State vs. Marquette in the second round drawing 10.91 million. Only 11 college football games averaged a larger audience during last season, including the playoff. The Rose Bowl had only slightly more viewers at 10.19 million, according to SportsMediaWatch.com.

Though the men’s tournament was just as exciting with some major upsets and underdog stories from Florida Atlantic University (FAU) and runner-up San Diego State University (SDSU), the 2023 Men’s Final Four saw a decline in ratings from 2022. Saturday’s NCAA men’s basketball national semifinals averaged 12.34 million viewers on CBS, down 17 percent from last year on TBS, TNT and TruTV but up 2 percent from 2021, according to SportsMediaWatch.com.

But the first game between FAU and SDSU had some big rating moments as the Aztecs would go on to win on a buzzer beater. The game opened at a 6.0 rating and 11.90 million viewers, up five percent in ratings and two percent in viewership from Kansas vs. Villanova on TBS, TNT and TruTV last year (5.75, 11.70M) and the most-watched early national semifinal since 2019 (Virginia vs. Auburn: 7.6, 13.0M).

Ratings for the Men’s National Championship have yet to be released.

Steven Boero
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