ESPN Sets Women’s Hoops Ratings Record—Without Caitlin Clark

Another year, another positive step for NCAA women’s basketball.

The 2024–2025 NCAA women’s basketball regular season averaged 280,000 viewers across 87 games on ESPN networks (ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, and ESPNU), up 3% from last year, and the highest on ESPN networks since the 2008–2009 season, the company announced Monday.

ESPN saw its strongest viewership gains on ABC and ESPN, the networks with the largest distribution. The three ABC games this year drew an average of 1.3 million viewers, up 120% over the six ABC games from last year.

Games on ESPN averaged 511,000 viewers over 28 games, up 13% compared to the 27 games the network aired last year.

Ending Strong

The positive viewership can be attributed to a strong stretch of games in February that included ESPN’s four most-watched games of the season.

A Feb. 16 doubleheader on ABC featured the two most-watched games on ESPN networks this year: UConn and South Carolina drew 1.8 million viewers, while LSU and Texas had 1.7 million viewers. 

South Carolina and Texas on Feb. 9 played in the third-most-watched game, drawing 1 million viewers on ESPN. Notre Dame and NC State drew 887,000 viewers on ESPN on Feb. 23.

Before the Feb. 16 doubleheader, ESPN networks were down 17% in viewership versus last season. The decline was cut to just 3% after that weekend, and ultimately ended on the positive side.

It’s worth noting that ESPN networks aired just two non-conference games Caitlin Clark and Iowa played in the 2023–2024 season, both coming earlier in the year. ESPN owns the rights to every NCAA Div. 1 conference other than the Big Ten, Big East, Mountain West, Colonial, and Summit

ESPN does own the rights to the Women’s March Madness tournament, including last year’s final between the Hawkeyes and Gamecocks, which drew 18.9 million viewers on ABC and ESPN.

ESPN will hope to continue the momentum into March Madness starting with Selection Sunday, which airs on Mar. 16 at 8 p.m. on ESPN.