Iowa and South Carolina play for the NCAA women’s basketball championship Sunday afternoon, with the Hawkeyes coming off of the two largest NCAA women’s audiences ever. To gauge where the game might rank historically, here is a list of the top ten women’s tournament games on record. (Updated 4/7/24)
The most-watched NCAA women’s basketball tournament games
Honorable mention: 1989 final, Tennessee def. Auburn (CBS): 7.22 million viewers
Pat Summitt and Tennessee won their second national championship in front of a CBS television audience of 7.22 million viewers, the largest for the national title in three years. (This was the first national title game of the Nielsen people meter era — 1988-present — which is generally how far back network records go.)
Honorable mention: 1991 final, Tennessee def. Virginia (CBS): 7.33 million
Tennessee won again in 1991 and again proved to move the needle. Viewership not only outpaced their previous title game in ’89, but surged 57 percent over Stanford’s title game victory the prior year (4.67M).
Honorable mention: 1995 final, UConn def. Tennessee (CBS): 7.44 million
The first national title meeting of Geno Auriemma and Pat Summitt was also the last national title game to air on CBS. UConn’s first of many national title victories attracted 7.44 million viewers, up 37 percent from the prior year.
#10: 1993 final, Texas Tech def. Ohio State (CBS): 7.81 million
Led by future Hall of Famer Sheryl Swoopes, Texas Tech edged Ohio State for the national title in front of a television audience of 7.81 million, the highest for the title game in seven years.
#9: 1992 national semifinal, Stanford def. Virginia (CBS): 8.08 million
The only game on this list that was not for the national championship, Stanford’s 1992 Final Four victory over Virginia averaged 8.08 million on CBS, which until 2023 was the largest women’s college basketball audience of the Nielsen people meter era (1988-present). The actual national title game did not fare nearly as well, as Stanford’s win over Western Kentucky averaged just 5.52 million the following day.
#8: 1984 final, USC def. Tennessee (CBS): 8.29 million
Cheryl Miller’s second-straight — and final — national championship was won in front of a television audience of 8.29 million viewers, but that marked a sharp decline from the Trojans’ win the prior year.
#7: 1982 final, Louisiana Tech def. Cheyney State (CBS): 8.79 million
In the first NCAA women’s basketball national championship, 8.79 million viewers tuned in to watch Louisiana Tech (featuring future LSU coach Kim Mulkey) defeat Cheyney State.
#6: 2023 final, LSU def. Iowa (ABC and ESPN2): 9.92 million
After CBS gave up rights to the women’s tournament in 1995, the event moved to ESPN. For 25 years, all ESPN coverage was limited to its cable networks, and viewership declined accordingly. It took until 2023 before the national title game aired on broadcast television again, just in time for a sharp upswing in interest in women’s basketball fueled largely by Iowa’s Caitlin Clark.
Following increased viewership throughout the early rounds and national semifinals, the national title game between Clark’s Hawkeyes and Angel Reese and LSU averaged nearly ten million viewers across ABC and ESPN2 — easily the largest women’s college basketball audience of the people meter era.
#5: 1986 final, Texas def. USC (CBS): 11.22 million
In the final college game played by Cheryl Miller, USC fell short to Texas in a national title game viewed by 11.22 million viewers — a 62 percent increase over the prior year.
#4: 1983 final, USC def. Louisiana Tech (CBS): 11.84 million
Cheryl Miller’s first national championship attracted an audience of 11.84 million viewers, up 35% from the inaugural title game a year earlier and still the largest NCAA women’s basketball audience ever recorded by Nielsen.
#3: 2024 regional final, Iowa def. LSU (ESPN): 12.30 million
The much-anticipated rematch of the 2023 national championship may have taken place in the Elite Eight and aired exclusively on cable, but that did not keep viewership from surging to an all-time high of 12.30 million viewers.
#2: 2024 national semifinal, Iowa def. UConn (ESPN): 14.2 million
Just days after their Elite Eight matchup with LSU set the record for women’s college basketball viewership, Iowa’s thrilling win over UConn in the Final Four broke that mark with 14.2 million viewers (per Nielsen fast-nationals).
#1: 2024 final, South Carolina def. Iowa (ABC and ESPN): 18.9 million
Iowa played in the most-watched women’s game on record for a third-straight game as their national championship loss to South Carolina delivered 18.9 million across ABC and ESPN.
