A down-to-the-wire matchup of traditional powers lifted the Women’s NCAA Tournament to a decade-high.
Monday’s UConn-Baylor Women’s NCAA Tournament regional final averaged 1.70 million viewers on ESPN, the largest audience in a decade for any game of the tournament prior to the Women’s Final Four. Notre Dame-Tennessee averaged 1.75 million in the 2011 Elite Eight.
The Huskies’ controversial win ranks 12th all-time among Women’s NCAA Tournament games on ESPN, excluding the Women’s Final Four.
Viewership increased 32% from UConn’s previous Elite Eight appearance in 2019, a Sunday afternoon game against Louisville (1.29M). Versus the team’s 2018 Elite Eight appearance against South Carolina, which aired in the same Monday night window, viewership increased 30% from 1.31 million.
The strong numbers came despite direct competition from the men’s Elite Eight on CBS. The competing Oregon State-Houston game averaged 5.92 million. In previous years, the women’s Elite Eight avoided direct competition with the men’s games.
In other action, Saturday’s UConn-Iowa regional semifinal averaged a 1.0 rating and 1.56 million viewers on ABC — up 129% in ratings and viewership from the Huskies’ 2019 Sweet 16 appearance against UCLA, which aired on ESPN on a Friday night (0.45, 682K). It ranks as the second-most watched women’s Sweet 16 game on record.
ABC also pulled a 0.8 and 1.22 million for Baylor-Michigan, a 0.67 and 1.02 million for South Carolina-Georgia Tech, and a 0.66 and 994,000 for Stanford-Missouri State. None of the 2019 Sweet Sixteen games cracked the 900,000 viewer mark. The complete Sweet Sixteen averaged 915,000 viewers, up 66% from 2019 and the largest audience for the round since 2013.
Monday’s Arizona-Indiana nightcap averaged 980,000 viewers, down from the comparable 2019 window, which did not face competing men’s games (Notre Dame-Stanford: 1.09M).
Most-watched Women’s NCAA Tournament games on ESPN
Excluding the Women’s Final Four
