There's a lot of talk about how popular women's basketball is now. On the other hand, SMW posted the top ten most watched women's basketball games in history. Last year's national championship was #3 overall.

https://www.sportsmediawatch.com/2024/04...yl-miller/

But every other game was on CBS before the NCAA Women's Tournament rights moved to ESPN! One of them was a semifinal.

Cheryl Miller and USC was responsible for three of the top four including the two top games. Rebecca Lobo's national championship and Geno Auriemma's/UConn's first also made the list.

Having the women's final on ESPN all those years was horrible for the game. Look at this graphic between 1995 and 2023! And ESPN in 1996 wasn't ESPN at its peak. Maybe if they went to ESPN in the 2010's I can understand it but definitely moving to ESPN set women's basketball back for decades.

12.3 million viewers last night. Wow.

(04-02-2024 04:49 PM)stever20 Wrote:  12.3 million viewers last night. Wow.

https://www.sportsmediawatch.com/2024/04...ite-eight/

Not only is it a WBB record, it is more than all CFB games other than the playoffs, OSU/Michigan and the SEC Championship.

Already looking like the NCAA got fleeced on their new media rights deal for the non-FB/MBB sports. I. Am. So. Shocked.

This will definitely be a peak number that lasts for decades, but very possible we are at a much higher base.

The real reason, does the WNBA pay enough to get players to declare for the draft after one or two seasons? Or can WBB keep its superstars for 3-4 years with NIL or other means? I see no reason why it can’t be the latter.

(04-02-2024 07:40 PM)RUScarlets Wrote:  This will definitely be a peak number that lasts for decades, but very possible we are at a much higher base.

The real reason, does the WNBA pay enough to get players to declare for the draft after one or two seasons? Or can WBB keep its superstars for 3-4 years with NIL or other means? I see no reason why it can’t be the latter.

It might not even last a week. A big reason so many watched is b/c people with large followings were talking about it all day, including Magic Johnson and numerous current NBA stars. Why couldn't that happen again against UConn, or even with UConn vs USC if UConn beats Iowa. Angel Reese is a big name, but LSU is down this year, and she's not as big of a name as all the Superstars who were tweeting about the game yesterday.

Saw that the UConn/USC game that had the misfortune of following the Iowa/LSU game drew 6.7 million viewers. Top 2 games on ESPN ever- men or women.

(04-02-2024 08:00 PM)bryanw1995 Wrote:  

(04-02-2024 07:40 PM)RUScarlets Wrote:  This will definitely be a peak number that lasts for decades, but very possible we are at a much higher base.

The real reason, does the WNBA pay enough to get players to declare for the draft after one or two seasons? Or can WBB keep its superstars for 3-4 years with NIL or other means? I see no reason why it can’t be the latter.

It might not even last a week. A big reason so many watched is b/c people with large followings were talking about it all day, including Magic Johnson and numerous current NBA stars. Why couldn't that happen again against UConn, or even with UConn vs USC if UConn beats Iowa. Angel Reese is a big name, but LSU is down this year, and she's not as big of a name as all the Superstars who were tweeting about the game yesterday.

UConn Iowa will do a massive number, but not this number. Iowa USC final is the game to watch. Maybe a 14-15 bagger.

Iowa - LSU drew almost as many viewers as the Duke - NC State men's Elite 8 game (15.1 million).

https://www.sportsmediawatch.com/2024/04...inal-four/

Iowa-UConn is now your most watched women's basketball game ever! It will likely last a day:)

South Carolina-NC State topped UConn-USC but was nowhere near Caitlin-Paige.

https://www.espn.com/womens-college-bask...-game-2019

"South Carolina's victory over Caitlin Clark and Iowa in the women's NCAA championship game Sunday had a preliminary audience average of 18.7 million on ABC and ESPN. The only sporting events in the United States to draw a bigger TV audience since 2019 have been football, the World Cup and the Olympics.

The audience numbers are expected to increase when Nielsen releases its final numbers Tuesday. Nielsen said the audience peaked at 24 million.

It's the most-watched basketball game since 2019, when the men's NCAA title game between Virginia and Texas Tech averaged 19.6 million on CBS.

Monday night's men's final between UConn and Purdue was being shown on TBS and TNT. It's possible that this will be the first year the women's title game has a bigger audience.

The 2015 Final Four game between Wisconsin and Kentucky on TBS is the only college basketball game on cable to draw over 18.7 million. That game averaged 22.63 million.

The 2022 men's final, which matched Kansas and North Carolina on TBS, averaged 18.1 million...."

Its surprising that ABC, CBS or NBC don't outbid the cable channels.

(04-08-2024 09:19 PM)bullet Wrote:  https://www.espn.com/womens-college-bask...-game-2019

"South Carolina's victory over Caitlin Clark and Iowa in the women's NCAA championship game Sunday had a preliminary audience average of 18.7 million on ABC and ESPN. The only sporting events in the United States to draw a bigger TV audience since 2019 have been football, the World Cup and the Olympics.

The audience numbers are expected to increase when Nielsen releases its final numbers Tuesday. Nielsen said the audience peaked at 24 million.

It's the most-watched basketball game since 2019, when the men's NCAA title game between Virginia and Texas Tech averaged 19.6 million on CBS.

Monday night's men's final between UConn and Purdue was being shown on TBS and TNT. It's possible that this will be the first year the women's title game has a bigger audience.

The 2015 Final Four game between Wisconsin and Kentucky on TBS is the only college basketball game on cable to draw over 18.7 million. That game averaged 22.63 million.

The 2022 men's final, which matched Kansas and North Carolina on TBS, averaged 18.1 million...."

Its surprising that ABC, CBS or NBC don't outbid the cable channels.

Unfortunately March Madness's contract doesn't expire until 2032 and the final is scheduled to be on TBS every even numbered year until then. That's a long time to be stuck on cable. Luckily for the streaming audience/cable less people these games are available with the HBO Max/Bleacher Report Add In.

(04-08-2024 09:19 PM)bullet Wrote:  https://www.espn.com/womens-college-bask...-game-2019

"South Carolina's victory over Caitlin Clark and Iowa in the women's NCAA championship game Sunday had a preliminary audience average of 18.7 million on ABC and ESPN. The only sporting events in the United States to draw a bigger TV audience since 2019 have been football, the World Cup and the Olympics.

The audience numbers are expected to increase when Nielsen releases its final numbers Tuesday. Nielsen said the audience peaked at 24 million.

It's the most-watched basketball game since 2019, when the men's NCAA title game between Virginia and Texas Tech averaged 19.6 million on CBS.

Monday night's men's final between UConn and Purdue was being shown on TBS and TNT. It's possible that this will be the first year the women's title game has a bigger audience.

The 2015 Final Four game between Wisconsin and Kentucky on TBS is the only college basketball game on cable to draw over 18.7 million. That game averaged 22.63 million.

The 2022 men's final, which matched Kansas and North Carolina on TBS, averaged 18.1 million...."

Its surprising that ABC, CBS or NBC don't outbid the cable channels.

ABC Sports has been absorbed into ESPN. ESPN decides what sports are shown over the air on ABC.

CBS needed Turner's help to get the winning bid for the current men's tournament contract. CBS could not pay for all the rights themselves. That's how we get tournament games on four channels at the same time, but it's also why the Final Four is on cable every other year. They showed the Final Four on three channels this year: TBS, TNT, and TruTV. And, the Turner games are also available on the HBO Max app.

ABC Sports with college football had the best music ever back in the late early-mid 2000s. That was the biggest loss when ESPN absorbed ABC Sports in 2007 or so.