BREAKING: Guard Freshman Tessa Johnson Terminate Contract with South Carolina After Background Argument with Management

Guard Tessa Johnson Terminate Contract with South Carolina After Background Argument with Management

There were other winners of the NCAA women’s basketball tournament besides the University of South Carolina. The networks airing the game did the same, as a record-breaking crowd tuned in to see the championship on Sunday.

The women’s final game between the University of Iowa Hawkeyes and the South Carolina Gamecocks drew a larger TV audience than the men’s for the first time in history, according to ESPN, with an average of roughly 18.7 million viewers and a peak of a whopping 24 million combined on ESPN and ABC.

On the other hand, the Division 1 men’s UConn Huskies’ victory over Purdue had an average viewership of 14.82 million across TBS and TNT.

But Sunday’s game was also the occasion when another sports glass ceiling fell.

For the third time in a row, the women’s collegiate tournament’s television viewing record was broken on Sunday night’s championship game. A then-record 12.3 million viewers watched the Elite Eight game between Iowa and LSU, which was a rematch of the 2023 NCAA championship, with a peak audience of 16.1 million, according to ESPN. That record was shattered by the ensuing semifinal matchup between Iowa and the University of Connecticut, which brought in 14.2 million TV viewers, according to ESPN.

The March Madness tournament’s championship match was dubbed “a fitting finale” by ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro.

“These exceptional athletes, coaches and teams captured our attention in unprecedented ways and it’s incumbent on all of us to keep the incredible momentum going,” Pitaro stated in a statement.

Women’s basketball has seen a surge in popularity due to the rise of superstar players, including Iowa’s Caitlin Clark, who finished the season as the highest scoring player in NCAA history.

Other big draws this season include JuJu Watkins, the freshman sensation from USC, Angel Reese of LSU, the NCAA record holder for double-doubles in a season, and Paige Bueckers of UConn, who will return for her senior year next year rather than declare for the 2024 WNBA draft.