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It’s a mixed bag for the women’s Final Four ratings. The two games Friday drew an average of 3.9 million viewers on ESPN. It marks the third-most-watched Final Four in history—but the figure was also down 64% from last year’s average of about 10.8 million viewers.
In a year without the Caitlin Clark Effect of 2024, the dip is not surprising. Compared to 2023, every other round of this year’s tournament surpassed viewership significantly, yet the Final Four was still down around 14% from the 4.54 million average from 2023.
Blowouts didn’t help the figures.
UConn vs. UCLA drew 4.1 million viewers at the 9 p.m. ET timeslot. But the game was a rout from the beginning: The Huskies’ 34-point win was the largest in Final Four history; the Bruins did not taste the lead at any point in the game.
Texas vs. South Carolina, which averaged 3.6 million viewers, was closer for a longer stretch as the Gamecocks were up just three against the Longhorns entering the half. But South Carolina opened up the game in the third quarter after limiting Texas to just nine points, and the game appeared decided early in the fourth.
However, with South Carolina and UConn headed to the championship game, NCAA and broadcast partner ESPN has likely the best match-up it could’ve hoped for to draw viewers.
The national title game probably will not match the record-setting 18.9 million Iowa–South Carolina brought in last year. A more apt barometer might be the 9.9 million from Iowa vs. LSU in 2023, or the 4.9 million viewers that watched UConn and South Carolina brought in the last time they played in the finals in 2022.
