The ratings are in for Monday night’s epic LSU-Iowa Elite Eight game. Even the most optimistic may have been surprised by the massive audience the highly-anticipated game pulled in.
ESPN PR revealed on Tuesday evening that the LSU-Iowa Elite Eight game averaged a whopping 12.3 million viewers. It became the most-watched women’s college basketball game on record, surpassing the 1983 NCAA Championship game won by the legendary Cheryl Miller.
The National Championship rematch shattered viewership records and provided a seminal moment for the game as its growth continues to rise exponentially.
Monday night's rematch between @IowaWBB & @LSUwbkb scores as the MOST-WATCHED WOMEN'S COLLEGE BASKETBALL GAME ON RECORD 🤯
🏀 12.3M viewers
🏀 Most-watched college basketball game EVER on ESPN platformsMore details to come…#NCAAWBB | #MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/55FU8C1NwD
— ESPN PR (@ESPNPR) April 2, 2024
With everybody watching Monday night, everybody then proceeded to react to the massive number.
Did not see them getting past 10M at that hour. Great night for women’s hoops. Will be really interesting to see what this weekend does (and down the road whether Clark & Co. can carry these viewers to the WNBA). https://t.co/ygMUxjXUUm
— Jay Posner (@JayPosnerSD) April 2, 2024
Absolutely incredible figure of 12.3 million watching last night's Iowa-LSU Elite Eight game. Blows away the previous records. The national championship last year between the same schools drew a record 9.9 million. https://t.co/iAlgFukHoh
— Shawn Medow (@ShawnMedow) April 2, 2024
That’s a lot of people. This is cool.
If your first instinct is to denigrate this or point out why it’s not a big deal, maybe ask yourself why? https://t.co/SwbwFYLTdp
— David Ubben (@davidubben) April 2, 2024
Not surprising and love to see this! Was box office from start to finish https://t.co/FVLg1BI3ki
— Zach Jones (@ZacharyJones198) April 2, 2024
Reactions continued on from other notable people.
Another record viewership, and another Caitlin Clark masterpiece to reward the fans who tune in.
You turn up the lights, and she just shines even brighter. Damn near every time. https://t.co/ohF5mMqNsf
— Adam Jacobi (@adam_jacobi) April 2, 2024
Incredible number. The NCAA wbb championship last year got 9.9M for context. And that number was paradigm shifting. https://t.co/C08dxa4Ghs
— Jane McManus (@janesports) April 2, 2024
12.3 Million w 16M at its peak is awesome. Wow. https://t.co/9Vc7WZBPqv
— Kevin Negandhi (@KevinNegandhi) April 2, 2024
One ESPN writer contextualized everything, bringing up that the game scored higher than nearly all of the NBA Finals games.
We just witnessed history.
Iowa/ LSU hit 12.3 Million viewers
To put that into context, it ranks above all but 1 Men’s NCAA Tournament game, all but 1 NBA Finals game and every World Series games in the most recent postseasons https://t.co/ptk8hTB3y2
— Flora Kelly (@ESPNFlora) April 2, 2024
“If you build it, they will come!!!!” ESPN’s Holly Rowe exclaimed. And she’s right.
MONSTER number.
If you build it, they will come!!!!!!!! https://t.co/i4mtkwtg3v— Holly Rowe (@sportsiren) April 2, 2024
Rachel Bachman pointed out this number drew higher than last year’s National Championship Game, which aired on over-the-air ABC. This game aired on cable on Monday night. This is a big, big deal for this situation.
This is 2.4 million more people than watched the LSU-Iowa 2023 *title game.*
For an Elite Eight game on cable, not network, TV. https://t.co/ime7sKmIRB
— Rachel Bachman (@Bachscore) April 2, 2024
It’s clear that everyone is buzzing over this monster number and enjoying the success of women’s college basketball. It’s been a long time coming, but the women’s game has exploded and is getting serious attention from all over. It’s all deserved, which makes it all the more awesome.
[ESPN PR]