Caitlin Clark's Iowa vs. Angel Reese's LSU showdown had more average viewers than almost every NBA and college football game last season

Led by Caitlin Clark, the Iowa Hawkeyes secured a 94-87 victory over the LSU Tigers on Monday's Elite Eight clash. This rematch, following Iowa's loss to LSU in the 2023 Championship final, was one of the most highly anticipated games of this season's March Madness.

According to ESPN, the game drew an average of 12.3 million viewers, peaking at 16.1 million viewers. This made it the most-watched women's college basketball game ever, and it broke last year's record of 9.9 million viewers who tuned in for the final showdown between Iowa and LSU on ABC network.

This number exceeded every NBA game last year, falling short only of Game 5 of the NBA Finals, which drew 13.03 million viewers. The only other exception was the college football regular season matchup between Ohio State and Michigan, which drew the highest 19.07 million viewers.

Before the 2023 finals, the last time a women's basketball game attracted such high viewership numbers was in 1992, when 8.1 million viewers tuned into CBS for a Virginia-Standford national semifinal. Iowa's Sweet 16 clash against Colorado had 6.9 million viewers - a number unheard of for a game in this round of the tournament.

According to FOX analyst, Michael Mulvihill, women’s college basketball is now averaging 981,000 viewers on the network, surpassing the 946,000 viewership for the men’s college basketball games. Moreover, the audience for women's college games has increased by 48% on the network and 60% across all national networks.

A look at the Caitlin Clark Effect

Since Caitlin Clark joined the Iowa Hawkeyes in 2020, she has drawn the attention of both casual and hardcore hoops fans from all over. Over the past two years, almost all Iowa games have been sold out.

Not only are they setting ticketing records at home, but the Hawkeyes have also helped other programs, like Northwestern, which now have the highest ticket sales in the school's history.

Additionally, FOX reported that its women's basketball coverage drew 436,000 average viewers while the men's had 346,00. The most-watched women's game on the channel was the March 3 clash between Iowa and Ohio State, when Caitlin Clark surpassed Pete Maravich to become the NCAA Division I all-time scorer and drew 3,388,000 viewers.

As Caitlin Clark prepares to transition to the WNBA after this season, her influence is extending beyond the college ranks and is affecting the pro games as well. As the projected No. 1 pick, Clark's new home could be the Indiana Fever. This has Vivid Seats reporting that the ticket price for Fever games has skyrocketed.

With hopes of Catlin Clark bringing her legions of fans to Indianapolis, excitement is building for the upcoming WNBA draft scheduled for April 15th.

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