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March Madness is already off to a hot start on TV with the most-watched First Four under the play-in round’s traditional format. One particularly juicy matchup in this weekend’s games could lead to even more ratings records.
After No. 10 Arkansas upset No. 7 Kansas on Thursday and No. 2 St. John’s took care of business against No. 15 Omaha in the bracket’s west region, John Calipari and Rick Pitino are set to renew their longtime rivalry in what will likely be the marquee telecast of the second round.
CBS will broadcast Arkansas–St. John’s on Saturday at 2:40 p.m. ET.
While the Razorbacks and Red Storm programs don’t have enormous national fan bases in men’s basketball, their Hall of Fame coaches have made a combined 13 Final Fours at five different schools. Calipari and Pitino last faced off in the NCAA tournament in 2014, when a Kentucky-Louisville clash in the Sweet 16 drew 10.1 million viewers.
First- and second-round TV ratings will build on the record 7.4 million combined viewers who watched First Four play-in games on truTV, led by 2.2 million that tuned in to UNC’s victory after its controversial March Madness selection.
Billionaire Basketball
Off the court, both St. John’s and Arkansas are big business stories in their own right.
Pitino led St. John’s to its first Big East tournament championship in 25 years, led by millions of dollars in NIL (name, image, and likeness) funding from billionaire alum Mike Repole, the founder of sports drink BodyArmor and now the majority owner of sports apparel brand NoBull. Meanwhile, with the Johnnies hoping to make their first Final Four since 1985, their fans in New York—the No. 1 sports betting market in the U.S.—are not allowed to place bets on the team.
Calipari stunned the college basketball world last year by leaving Kentucky, where he had five years and $44 million left on his contract, to take the head coach job at Arkansas, thanks to his relationship with Razorbacks donor and Tyson Foods billionaire John H. Tyson. Calipari was able to seal an NIL budget of at least $5 million at his new job.
