The Numbers Are In And Iowa vs. UConn (Peaked At 17 Million) Crushed Last Week's LSU Game As The Most Watched Women's Game Ever
So I saw people saying today that while the Iowa vs. UConn game had a climatic finish and anti-climactic ending, they guessed that the numbers probably didn't top LSU vs. Iowa from the weekend before. For those of you that don't keep up with the current record holder of the most watched women's games ever, Angel Reese vs. Caitlin Clark: Part 2 took the cake.
To put that in perspective, as Jack Mac so astutely pointed out, this means that more people tuned in to watch an NCAA Women's Basketball Elite 8 game than....
- Every NBA Finals since 2019
- Every Stanley Cup EVER
- Every World Series since 2019
Obviously those events are 7-game series and this game was a one-off, but my God, those numbers are astounding. And the record stood for......one week.
.....and I'd have to imagine that this record stands for less than 48 hours.
Dave is right. Women's basketball certainly is growing in popularity, but there have been great players in the game for a long time. Maya Moore, Candace Parker, and Breanna Stewart never moved the needle like this. Because at the end of the day, there's never been another Caitlin Clark, and she's playing in her final season of college basketball. And thanks to the help of a little hip check / whistle down the stretch, she's got one more game in her tomorrow.
South Carolina vs. Iowa tomorrow, at 3:00 pm EST, has the chance to do fucking NUMBERS. South Carolina is 37-0 and is coached by the polarizing Dawn Staley, who just picked up her 3rd straight National Coach of the Year honors. And then all Iowa has is the most electrifying women's basketball player to ever walk the Earth, looking to pull up from half court if you let her. South Carolina is a pretty sizable favorite, and while I'd imagine the beginning still gains pretty heavy viewership….if Iowa is close or up late in the game? I want this number touching 20 million. It hit 17 in the Final Four, averaging 14.2. Can we get to 20 if Caitlin is dropping a 40 piece McNugget on an undefeated team? I think so.