South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley celebrates after the Final Four college basketball championship game against Iowa in the women’s NCAA Tournament, Sunday, April 7, 2024, in Cleveland. South Carolina won 87-75. Iowa guard Caitlin Clark stands on the court during the second half of the Final Four college basketball championship game against South Carolina in the women’s NCAA Tournament, Sunday, April 7, 2024, in Cleveland.
Nielsen’s numbers include an estimate of the number of people who watched outside their homes, which wasn’t measured before 2020. Due to cord-cutting, the in-home audience has steadily declined annually.The NCAA women’s tourney had everything: stars, upsets, an undefeated champion. It’s just the startThe audience for the national title game was up 90% over last year when Clark and Iowa fell to LSU. That also was the first time since 1995 that the championship was on network television.
“I think you see it across the board, whether it’s softball, whether it’s gymnastics, volleyball. People want to watch. It’s just when they’re given the opportunity, the research and the facts show that people love it,” she said. “There are also some great freshmen coming into the game next year who I think are going to make a tremendous impact. As long as we keep telling the story, there’s still room to grow the game,” Close said.