In A First, Women’s College National Basketball Game Viewership Surpasses Men’s

For the first time, in the history of basketball, regardless of men or women, college or professional, the NCAA women's basketball championship outdrew the men's in terms of viewership. Within an average of 18.9 million viewership, the audience grew bigger for women's titles than the men's titles. 

The viewership of the game on 7th April 2024 on ABC and ESPN surpassed the match by men's final on 8th April 2024 by four million viewers. The viewers for the women's game reached the highest peak at 24.1 million viewers during the final 15 minutes of the game. 

The women's match was played between Gamecocks and Clark Hawkeyes, where Gamecocks bagged their fourth national title.

Historic First: Women's Game Viewership Surpasses Men's

For the third time in a row, the women's collegiate tournament's television viewership record was broken on the women's championship game. A then-record 12.3 million viewers watched the Elite Eight game between Iowa and LSU, which was a rematch of the 2023 NCAA championship, with a peak audience of 16.1 million, according to ESPN. That record was shattered by the subsequent semifinal matchup between Iowa and the University of Connecticut, which brought in 14.2 million TV viewers, according to ESPN.

The women's championship game in 2024 attracted a viewership that was over 90% more than the 9.9 million viewers in 2023 and over 288% higher than that in 2022.

According to ESPN vice president of programming Nick Dawson, "the overwhelming success of the NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament is a testament to the incredible performances by this year's student athletes." "The record-breaking attendance is a result of the hard work, innovative scheduling, promotion, and cooperation between the NCAA and ESPN over many years, as well as the admiration of fans for those performances. Numerous people dedicated decades of their lives to this event, laying the groundwork for the present moment. Women's college basketball will reach a significant turning point in its development in 2023, and we at ESPN are excited to collaborate with the NCAA to keep the sport and this iconic event growing.

Women are setting new records, breaking old records and also strereotypical beliefs.