Though it did not quite live up to the hype, Tuesday’s clash of unbeaten teams in the Women’s NCAA Tournament title game scored impressive numbers on ESPN.
The Connecticut/Notre Dame Women’s NCAA Tournament National Championship Game earned a 2.8 U.S. rating and 4.3 million viewers on ESPN, up 40% in ratings and up 33% in viewership from Connecticut/Louisville last year (2.0, 3.2M), and up 4% and 1%, respectively, from Baylor/Notre Dame in 2012 (2.7, 4.2M).
Connecticut/Notre Dame ranks as the highest rated and most-viewed women’s title game since Connecticut/Tennessee in 2004 (3.5, 5.6M), and the fourth-highest rated and sixth-most viewed since ESPN began airing the games in 1996. Connecticut has now played in four of the six most-viewed title games on ESPN, including the top two — Connecticut/Oklahoma in 2002 (5.7M) and Connecticut/Tennessee in 2004 (5.6M).
Overall, Tuesday’s game ranks as the #2 basketball telecast on ESPN since last year’s NBA Playoffs, trailing only Duke/Syracuse on February 1 (2.9, 4.7M).
Among adults 18-49, the game drew a 1.1 rating — up 38% from last year (0.8), but down a tick from 2012 (1.2).
Most-Viewed Women’s NCAA Tournament Title Games
Since ESPN began airing games in 1996
(Mon. numbers from ESPN Media Zone; additional info from Sports Business Daily)
