Sunday, August 7, 2023, a day that will remain in the history of United States sports for the South Carolina 87-75 triumph over Iowa in the final of the Women’s College Basketball Tournament, widely known as March Madness.
The match had a record audience with an average of 18.7 million viewers on ABC and ESPN (with a peak of 24 million) and it became the most watched sporting event in the United States since 2019, excluding the Olympic Games, American football matches and the final of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
That is to say, surpassed any NBA game, ice hockey and professional baseball over the past five years.
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Why did the women’s college basketball final generate such an audience?
The high figures in the rating of the final college basketball games have a first and last name: Caitlin Clark.
The Iowa player became a phenomenon by breaking several points records and the 2024 March Madness It was his last chance to win a title prior to becoming a professional player in the WNBA.
That’s why, The last three duels of the “Hawkeyes” were audience records: 12.3 million in the regional final against LSU; 14.2 million against UConn in one of the semifinals and 18.7 million to see the decisive game against the South Carolina “Gamecocks.”
The WNBA expects a great media impact with the arrival of Caitlin Clark
“I want to personally thank Caitlin Clark for lifting up our sport. This won’t stop here at the college level, she will also lift up the WNBA. “You are one of the best in history and we value you,” Dawn Staley, the famed South Carolina coach (she won three Olympic gold medals) said Sunday night after beating Iowa.
Next April 15 is the WNBA Draft and it is taken for granted that with the first selection, las Indiana Fever They will take Caitlin Clark.
The goal of the Indianapolis-based team, and of the entire league, is for the former Iowa player generate a great media and commercial impact in the women’s professional basketball league.
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