Women’s NCAA Finals Drew More Viewers Than Men’s and It Wasn’t Close

Women’s NCAA Finals Drew More Viewers Than Men’s and It Wasn’t Close

According to Nielsen data, the finals for the NCAA Women’s Division I finals outdrew the men’s final, and it was not close. The women’s audience was a record 18.9 million — almost four times what the women’s audience was two years earlier.

 

And, the men’s final on Monday night between UConn and Purdue was watched by 14.8 million. The women’s numbers are more impressive as the women played on a Sunday afternoon and the men played in primetime.

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But the money went to the men.

 

“But that won’t be reflected in the money each side earned for TV rights: $6.5 million for the women’s tournament and $873 million for the men’s. The wide discrepancy raises the question of whether college athletics officials have failed to capitalize on a surge in popularity in the women’s game. A new deal that goes into effect next season will allocate some $65 million a year for the women’s game, a substantial jump but still a fraction of the men’s haul,” reported the Wall Street Journal.

 

Iowa star Caitlin Clark’s influence cannot be underestimated. It was the biggest TV audience to watch an NCAA basketball game since the men’s NCAA final in 2019. Then, the finals between the University of Virginia and Texas Tech drew 19.6 million viewers.