Angel Reese of LSU and Caitlin Clark of Iowa faced off in the Elite Eight round of the 2024 NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament. The game, held at the MVP Arena in Albany, New York, attracted an all-time high ratings record for a women’s college basketball game on ESPN, with more than 12 million viewers tuning in to watch. The audience peaked at 16.1 million viewers, making it the most-watched college basketball game ever on ESPN platforms.
The highly anticipated match was a rematch of the 2023 national championship, where Iowa avenged its loss from last year and advanced to its second straight Final Four. Iowa emerged victorious with a score of 94-87, thanks in large part to Caitlin Clark’s impressive 41 points. Following the loss, Angel Reese expressed her joy at being part of history and raising the profile of women’s sports.
ESPN announced that the viewership for the Elite Eight game was the highest for any basketball game since the 2018 NBA Eastern Conference Finals. The average women’s NCAA tournament game rating has increased by 127% compared to the 2023 tournament.
Iowa will face Connecticut in the next round on Friday at 9:30 p.m. ET on ESPN, while South Carolina will face NC State in another Final Four game at 7 p.m., both games promise to be exciting matches that will attract millions of viewers and fans alike
