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Perhaps the single most popular data point in sports last year was that the women’s March Madness championship game outdrew the men’s for the first time.
The women’s title game, which featured Caitlin Clark and Iowa against Dawn Staley and South Carolina, smashed the record for the most-watched iteration of the event (18.9 million), while the men’s championship between UConn and Purdue was its second-least-watched version (14.8 million).
It was clear the star power of Clark helped drive viewership for the women—her semifinal battle against Paige Bueckers and the Huskies nearly outdrew the men’s final (14.2 million) even though multiple players in the men’s game ended up as lottery selections in the 2024 NBA draft (Stephon Castle, Zach Edey, Donovan Clingan).
That’s in part because of the difference in draft rules of the NBA and WNBA. The former has its “one-and-done” rule that allows players to enter the draft one year after high school, while the latter requires domestic players to be 22 the year of the draft. This allows top pro prospects like Clark and Bueckers additional years to build NCAA fan bases, while the men are more reliant on rare freshman stars.
But this year, the men’s game has first-year phenom Cooper Flagg, and he may showcase the value of star power in March Madness.
Lone Star
The 18-year-old is expected to be the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NBA draft and has buzz unlike any American prospect since fellow Blue Devil Zion Williamson in 2019 or perhaps even Kentucky’s Anthony Davis in 2012. Duke—though already a viewership draw on its own—has been in 4 of the 10 most-watched regular-season men’s college games this year.
While well-known schools like Auburn and Kentucky are top seeds, few players in the tournament beyond Flagg are household names who can move the needle. Rutgers duo Dylan Harper and Ace Bailey, the next two best NBA prospects following Flagg, missed the tournament.
A positive sign for viewership is that Duke is favored to make a deep run, but there are no guarantees, especially since Flagg will be coming off an ankle injury he sustained in the ACC tournament last week. Blue Devils head coach Jon Scheyer said the goal is for Flagg to play during their tournament opener Friday—and Flagg’s mom, Kelly, told Front Office Sports they expect him back “very soon.”
Another potential boost for the tournament is that viewership may rise simply because the game will be on CBS, an over-the-air channel, rather than via cable on TNT networks like last year. However, this is no guarantee viewership will recover. The 2023 title game, the least-watched men’s game, aired on CBS.
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