March Madness branded Powerade bottles before the game between the Maryland Terrapins and the South Carolina Gamecocks during the Elite Eight round of the 2023 NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament held at Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville, South Carolina, on March 27, 2023The NCAA Women's Championship between Iowa and South Carolina set a record on Sunday, drawing 18.7 million viewers on ABC and ESPN.
The game peaked at 24 million viewers, ESPN said, and was the most-watched NCAA women's college basketball game since 1992.
The championship, which saw Caitlin Clark-led Iowa fall to South Carolina, was the most-watched basketball game, either men's or women's and college or professional, since 2019.
"With a record-setting audience of 18.7 million viewers, Sunday's Iowa-South Carolina title game was a fitting finale to the most-viewed ever NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament," said ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro in a statement.
The semifinals between Iowa and University of Connecticut last week also shattered viewership records, peaking at 17 million viewers, according to ESPN.
Persons:
Caitlin Clark, Jimmy Pitaro, Clark, that's
Organizations:
Maryland Terrapins, South Carolina Gamecocks, Secours Wellness, NCAA, ABC, ESPN, Iowa, University of Connecticut, Deloitte
Locations:
Greenville , South Carolina, Iowa, South Carolina