Iowa, Caitlin Clark helped ESPN set record TV ratings in Women’s Final Four
Our friends at Hawkeyes Wire are living the dream. It’s always great when one of our partner College Wire sites gets to be part of a tremendous sports story and a national sports showcase such as the Women’s Final Four. Iowa played LSU for the national championship of women’s college basketball on Sunday afternoon in Dallas.
Leading into that game, Iowa and superstar Caitlin Clark set new television ratings records which will be noticed throughout the college sports industry.
“The Iowa Hawkeyes took down previously undefeated South Carolina and will now face LSU in their shot at the National Championship.
“The game had star power in Caitlin Clark and Aliyah Boston to go with high-stakes, postseason basketball. The game came down to the final minute and the ratings that came in have proven that the sports world was tuned in.
“The Iowa versus South Carolina Final Four game was the catalyst that has made this season’s semifinals the most viewed Women’s NCAA Tournament semifinals in ESPN’s history. It is also the most-viewed semifinal game on record.”
All of this matters because the Women’s NCAA Tournament, which has previously been bundled together with other NCAA sports championships, could soon be de-coupled from those other sports.
Women’s NCAA Tournament revenue with a win-unit structure akin to what the Men’s NCAA Tournament uses could infuse athletic departments with millions of additional dollars. Pac-12 schools wondering about their standing in the larger marketplace would stand to make a lot more money than before, especially if the Pac-12 — a strong women’s basketball conference — can produce Sweet 16, Elite Eight, and Final Four teams on a large scale, something it has done several times in recent years, most notably in 2016 and 2021, when it sent two teams to the Final Four.
Follow Hawkeyes Wire and LSU Tigers Wire for full coverage of the Iowa-LSU women’s national championship game.
