Men's NCAA Tournament sets first round viewership record

College sports continues to see its TV ratings climb.

The men’s NCAA Tournament finished with its most-watched opening round on record last week, according to data released by CBS. In a year that saw an uptick in college football and the Super Bowl, March Madness appears to be the latest sport to help overall TV viewership.

CBS, truTV, TBS and TNT averaged 9.2 million viewers on Thursday and Friday in the combination of the four windows each day. The biggest win of the two-day stretch was Friday, which recorded an average 9.3 million viewers across the four windows and four networks. It was the most-watched first-round Friday of all time.

In part, the record numbers were thanks to Fairleigh Dickinson pulling off just the second 16-over-1 seed win in tournament history. The win brought an end to Purdue‘s bid to make its first Final Four in 43 years. FDU’s win over the Boilermakers drew 4.37 million viewers to TNT, which is the best first-round game on cable TV since Turner Sports became a March Madness media partner before the 2011 tournament.

During the same window was the Kentucky–Providence matchup, which also performed well. The early primetime time slot finished with an average of 11.7 million viewers — the best mark ever for the window.

Thursday finished with an average 8.35 million viewers for all windows, which was a 2% uptick from 2022. Roughly 1.8 million watched No. 15 seed Princeton take down No. 1 seed Arizona.

The Duke–Oral Roberts matchup in primetime on CBS garnered 3.43 million viewers. TNT was actually the most-watched network in that window, however, with 3.44 million watching No. 8 seed Auburn play No. 9 seed Iowa in Birmingham, Alabama.

The late-night Thursday game featuring Tennesse and Louisiana also performed well, thanks in part to the Vols pulling away a 58-55 win late. Also on CBS, the game produced 3.48 million viewers.

Last year’s NCAA title game between Kansas and North Carolina delivered an average 18.1 million viewers, which is the most-viewed men’s championship ever on cable TV according to the NCAA. The UNC-Duke Final Four matchup is the second-most watched college basketball game with an average of 18.5 million viewers.

NCAA Tournament’s First Four viewership down

Since the NCAA Tournament expanded to 68 teams more than a decade ago, the Big Dance has technically started a couple days before the first round. The First Four has always been held in Dayton, Ohio, since its inception back in 2011.

TV ratings did not jump at this year’s First Four, though. According to Nielsen data, the games grossed just 5.41 million on TruTV, down more than 20% from last year’s 6.89 million in viewership. Tuesday’s battle for the No. 11 seed in the Midwest Region between Pittsburgh and Mississippi State led the four games with only 1.74 million viewers.

Arizona State and Nevada on Wednesday night followed at 1.38 million, down more than 35% from last year’s game in the slot.

Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi’s 75-71 win over Southeast Missouri State University for the No. 16 seed in the South Region produced 1.22 million viewers. It was the lone game to increase over last year at only 2%. Fairleigh Dickinson’s win over Texas Southern just touched 1 million, with the lowest rating of the First Four.