The Caitlin Clark Effect is real.
Sunday’s NCAA March Madness women’s basketball national championship between Iowa and South Carolina absolutely took a hammer to previous viewership records.
Broadcasted on ABC, the Gamecocks’ victory over Caitlin Clark & Co. pulled in a massive 18.7 million viewers, hitting a peak of 24 million at one point in the game, according to ESPN per CNBC. That figure shot up from 89% last year, and the season before with the 2022 national championship, the 2024 edition is up a crazy 285%. (RELATED: Caitlin Clark’s Glory Is Iowa Football’s Embarrassment In Truly Unreal Stat)
The four-letter network stated that it was the most-viewed sporting event since 2019, excluding the Olympics and American football.
With the exception of the overall ‘Caitlin Clark Effect,’ there’s two factors to why the game brought in monster ratings: 1. Head coach Dawn Staley and South Carolina looked to finish up an undefeated season with a national championship, and also launch a dynasty with two titles in three years, and 2. Going back to Caitlin Clark, she looked to end her remarkable college career with a natty.
The Gamecocks went on to win the game,87-75. Caitlin Clark had 30 points.
South Carolina and Iowa’s National Championship game averaged a record 18.7 MILLION viewers on ABC and ESPN.
That’s more than any other basketball game—women’s, men’s, college, or pro—in five years. pic.twitter.com/NfeSyvdvnD
— Front Office Sports (@FOS) April 8, 2024
If I told you just last year that a women’s basketball game was going to have a peak of 24 million viewers, you would’ve laughed at me … now look at things … crazy.