Historical significance aside, a 31-point rout is no way to attract an audience.
Tuesday’s UConn/Syracuse Women’s NCAA Tournament National Championship Game earned a 1.9 final rating and 3.0 million viewers on ESPN, down a tick in ratings and 4% in viewership from UConn/Notre Dame last year (2.0, 3.1M) and down 32% and 30%, respectively, from UConn/Notre Dame in 2014, when both teams were undefeated (2.8, 4.3M).
The Huskies’ blowout win, which clinched their fourth straight national championship, ranks as the lowest rated and least-watched title game since UConn/Louisville in 2009 (1.8, 2.7M). Since ESPN began airing the national championship in 1996, only twice has it attracted fewer viewers — the aforementioned 2009 game and Tennessee/Rutgers in 2007 (2.9M).
UConn has now played in four of the five least-watched title games since ESPN acquired rights, with three of those coming during the current run of four straight championships. It should be noted that the team has also played in four of the six most-watched games, with their 2014 win ranking sixth.
Shifting to Sunday’s Final Four, UConn/Oregon State scored 2.3 million viewers on ESPN — up 14% from Notre Dame/South Carolina last year (2.0M) and up 28% from Notre Dame/Maryland in 2014 (1.8M). Viewership was the highest for the early national semifinal since Notre Dame/UConn in 2012 (2.9M), the last time the Huskies played in the early window. Ratings for the game were not immediately available.
Syracuse/Washington had a 1.0 final rating and 1.6 million viewers on ESPN2 later in the night, down a third in ratings and viewership from UConn/Maryland last year (1.5, 2.4M) and down a third and 31%, respectively, from UConn/Stanford in ’14 (1.5, 2.3M). The 1.0 rating is the lowest for any Women’s Final Four game since at least 2000, with the caveat that no other game aired on ESPN2.
(Numbers via Programming Insider [1], [2]; ShowBuzz Daily)
