The NCAA men’s and women’s basketball tournaments led the way on the final Saturday of March.
Saturday’s Alabama-Clemson NCAA men’s basketball tournament regional final was the most-watched sporting event of the day with a combined 3.8 rating and 7.79 million viewers across TBS (3.1, 6.33M) and truTV (0.7, 1.46M). The Crimson Tide’s win declined 9% in ratings and 3% in viewership from UConn-Gonzaga in the same window last year (4.1, 7.99M).
Placing second for the day, the Iowa-Colorado women’s regional semifinal drew a 3.6 and 6.87 million on ABC — trailing only last year’s LSU-Iowa final (9.92M) as the most-watched women’s tournament game since 1995. Additional details on the women’s tournament numbers, which also included LSU-UCLA at a 2.2 and 3.83 million, are available in the preceding link.
Returning to the men’s game, UConn’s rout of Illinois had a 3.0 and 6.48 million across TBS (2.5, 5.47M) and truTV (0.50, 1.01M), down 17% and 8% respectively from FAU-Kansas State last year (3.6, 7.01M). Additional details on the men’s numbers are available here.
Facing much stronger competition from the women’s tournament than a year ago, the NCAA Division II men’s basketball national championship (Minnesota State-Nova Southeastern) averaged a 0.46 and 774,000 on CBS — down sharply from last year’s 0.6 and 998,000, and even more so from a 0.9 and 1.38 million in 2022.
Moving beyond the hardwood, FOX averaged a 1.3 and 2.53 million for the debut of its Major League Baseball coverage — up a tick in ratings and 14% in viewership from last year’s debut on the same weekend (1.2, 2.21M). FS1 drew a 0.35 and 672,000 for Braves-Phillies earlier in the day, up dramatically from Guardians-Mariners in a late night window last year (0.12, 198K).
NBC averaged a 0.8 and 1.39 million for third round coverage of the PGA Tour Houston Open, a mixed bag compared to Texas Open coverage on the same weekend last year (0.85, 1.32M). (That is not exactly an apples-to-apples comparison as the Texas Open took place a week before the Masters.)
In the debut of the UFL spring football league, FOX averaged a 0.7 and 1.35 million for St. Louis-Michigan and a 0.7 and 1.18 million for Birmingham-Arlington. Additional details on the opening weekend performance are available here.
Leading out of women’s tournament action, ESPN averaged a 0.46 and 808,000 for a UFC Fight Night. NASCAR Xfinity Series action from Richmond drew a 0.46 and 795,000 on FS1, down from last year’s 0.50 and 847,000. Retiring American Danielle Collins’ victory in the Miami Open tennis final drew a 0.21 and 324,000 on Tennis Channel, up from 239,000 for Petra Kvitova-Elena Rybakina last year.
Shifting to soccer, a Wolves-Aston Villa English Premier League match topped the day with a 0.45 and 786,000 across NBC (0.31, 544K), Telemundo (0.12, 193K) and Universo (0.02, 49K). Liga MX topped out at a 0.33 and 721,000 for UNAM-Cruz Azul on Univision. ESPN drew a 0.17 and 298,000 for a Bayern Munich-Dortmund Bundesliga match, followed by a Kansas City-Angel City NWSL match at a 0.09 and 171,000. An NWSL match on ION fared better later in the night as Louisville-Portland drew a 0.13 and 198,000.
MLB Network drew a 0.14 and 248,000 for Braves-Mets and a 0.10 and 210,000 for regional action, while NBA TV chipped in a 0.14 and 215,000 for Celtics-Pelicans and a 0.12 and 197,000 for Bucks-Hawks.
In the NCAA men’s hockey tournament, Cornell-Denver averaged a 0.06 and 116,000 on ESPN2 and Minnesota-Boston U a 0.05 and 93,000 on ESPNU. At an average of 104,000, the games increased 20% from a mere 87,000 last year on ESPNU alone (Cornell-Boston U: 69K; St. Cloud State-Minnesota: 103K).
Saturday, March 30 sports ratings
