The NCAA women’s basketball national championship dominated the rest of television Sunday with one of the top non-football sports audiences of the past half-decade.
Sunday’s South Carolina-Iowa NCAA women’s basketball national championship averaged a 9.3 rating and 18.89 million viewers across ABC (8.6, 17.48M), ESPN (0.8, 1.39M) and ESPN Deportes (0.01, 15K), marking the largest basketball audience in five years and second-largest sports audience of any kind — excluding football and the Olympics — over the same span. For more details on the women’s national championship ratings, see the preceding link.
The Gamecocks’ win also ranks as the most-watched pro or college basketball game to air outside of primetime (7 PM on Sundays, 8 PM on all other nights) since 1992, with the caveat that out-of-home viewing was not included in Nielsen estimates prior to 2020.
ABC coverage ran from 3-5:20 PM ET, in keeping with the network’s general practice of protecting its Sunday primetime shows from sports overrun. In primetime Sunday, ABC averaged a 2.7 and 5.14 million for “America’s Funniest Home Videos,” a 2.4 and 4.36 million for “American Idol” and a 1.2 and 2.03 million for “What Would You Do?” In the key adult demographics, “AFHV” was the network’s top show with a 0.58 in 18-49, a 0.31 in 18-34 and a 0.84 in 25-54, while the ABC portion of the title game drew ratings of 3.6, 2.6 and 4.6 in those demos.
In other Sunday action, the NASCAR Cup Series from Martinsville (Va.) averaged a 1.2 and 2.19 million on FS1 — down a tick in ratings and 1% in viewership from last year, when the race did not face competition from the women’s title game (1.3, 2.22M). Not counting the rain-postponed Daytona 500, William Byron’s win was the first race of the season to decline.
Final round coverage of the PGA Tour Texas Open drew a 1.3 and 2.18 million on NBC, up 9% in ratings and 21% in viewership from last year (1.2, 1.81M). LIV Golf on CW had a 0.13 and 221,000.
ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball (Astros-Rangers) scored a 0.7 and 1.50 million — up from Padres-Braves last year (0.7, 1.43M) — leading into a Stars-Avalanche NHL regular season game at a 0.23 and 430,000. In other NHL action, TNT drew a 0.23 and 448,000 for Sabres-Red Wings.
A morning Liverpool-Manchester United Premier League match drew a combined 0.86 and 1.50 million across NBC (0.7, 1.18M) and Telemundo (0.16, 317K), followed by Chelsea-Sheffield at a 0.6 and 1.21 million on the same two networks (NBC: 0.47, 885K; Telemundo: 0.16, 326K).
A Birmingham-Michigan UFL game drew a 0.50 and 902,000 on ESPN, while FOX drew a 0.44 and 849,000 for Houston-DC. Including Saturday’s pair of games, week two of the UFL averaged 841,000 — down 19% from week one (1.04M).
Further down the dial, the Pro Bull Riders Tour cracked the seven figure mark for a second-straight week with a 0.6 and 1.02 million on CBS. That led into a high school slam dunk and three-point shooting competition at a 0.54 and 860,000, followed by an HBCU All-Star Game at a 0.27 and 427,000.
Sunday, April 7 sports ratings
