Current:Home > StocksCaitlin Clark, Iowa set conference tournament viewership record after beating Nebraska -NextFrontier Finance
Caitlin Clark, Iowa set conference tournament viewership record after beating Nebraska
View
Date:2025-04-25 01:19:25
Fans can't get enough of Caitlin Clark.
Iowa's Big Ten championship win over Nebraska on Sunday was the most-watched conference tournament game on any network in women's college basketball history, CBS Sports reported on Tuesday.
The network said that the game, where the Hawkeyes won 94-89 for their third straight Big Ten title behind 34 points and 12 assists from Clark, had an average of 3.021 million viewers. The audience peaked when the game went into overtime and 4.450 million people tuned in.
The matchup was the most-watched game of the day, which also featured the SEC championship where South Carolina outlasted LSU after a scuffle in the fourth quarter to win their eighth conference title in 10 years.
The Athletic's Richard Deitsch compared the numbers between the women's Big Ten championship and the storied rivalry between Duke and North Carolina's men's basketball teams. The Blue Devils and Tar Heels faced off on Saturday in the regular season finale. North Carolina won at Cameron Indoor, clinching the regular season ACC crown. Deitsch said that game, which was aired on ESPN, had an average of 3.076 million viewers.
WOMEN'S BRACKET MADNESS: Enter USA TODAY's women's tournament bracket contest for a chance at $1 million prize.
The Big Ten Network also reported that Iowa amassed more than 1 million viewers for both its semifinal and quarterfinal games in the conference tournament. It's the first time the network has seen two women's games pass the 1 million mark. The 1.075 million fans that tuned in for the semifinal against Michigan made the game the most-watched women's sports event and second overall in the network's history.
Clark − with other stars such as LSU's Angel Reese, former South Carolina star Aliyah Boston and Stanford's Cameron Brink − have helped elevate the profile of women's basketball. Last year's Final Four saw record viewership on ESPN with an average of 5.5 million and peak of 6.6 million people watching Iowa versus South Carolina. When Clark broke Pete Maravich's all-time scoring record earlier this month in a game against Ohio State, an average of 3.4 million fans tuned in, making it the most-watched women's college basketball game in FOX's history.
The Hawkeyes clinched a berth in the NCAA tournament with the championship win. They will learn their seeding for the competition on Selection Sunday.
veryGood! (598)
Related
- A South Texas lawmaker’s 15
- Lily Gladstone is 'amazed' by historic Oscar nomination: 'I'm not going to be the last'
- 3 people arrested in the Netherlands on suspicion of violating EU sanctions with exports to Russia
- Vatican-affiliated Catholic charity makes urgent appeal to stop ‘barbarous’ Alabama execution
- Connie Chiume, Black Panther Actress, Dead at 72: Lupita Nyong'o and More Pay Tribute
- America is hitting peak 65 in 2024 as record number of boomers reach retirement age. Here's what to know.
- eBay to lay off 1,000 workers as tech job losses continue in the new year
- The FTC bars TurboTax maker Intuit from advertising 'deceptive' free services
- Paris Olympics live updates: Quincy Hall wins 400m thriller; USA women's hoops in action
- Ex-NBA guard Kevin Porter Jr. reaches plea deal, avoids jail time in NYC domestic assault case
Ranking
- Chuck Scarborough signs off: Hoda Kotb, Al Roker tribute legendary New York anchor
- Columbia students at pro-Palestine protest allegedly attacked with 'skunk' chemical
- Emma Stone, Robert Downey Jr., and More React to 2024 Oscars Nominations
- San Diego just saw its rainiest day in January history as officials warn of the fragile state of the city's infrastructure
- USA women's basketball live updates at Olympics: Start time vs Nigeria, how to watch
- Filipino fisherman to Chinese coast guard in disputed shoal: `This is not your territory. Go away.’
- Police say a former Haitian vice-consul has been slain near an airport in Haiti
- Evers to focus on workforce challenges in sixth State of the State address
Recommendation
British golfer Charley Hull blames injury, not lack of cigarettes, for poor Olympic start
Federal appeals court upholds local gun safety pamphlet law in Maryland
Sri Lankan lawmakers debate controversial internet safety bill amid protests by rights groups
How war changed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy
Angelina Jolie nearly fainted making Maria Callas movie: 'My body wasn’t strong enough'
J.Crew’s Extra 60% off Sale Features Elevated Staples & Statement Pieces, Starting at $9
These new synthetic opioids could make fentanyl crisis look like 'the good old days'
Grand jury indicts farmworker charged in Northern California mass shootings