South Carolina-Iowa was most-watched game in women's basketball history
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Breaking a record that had stood for less than 48 hours, South Carolina’s national championship victory over Iowa is officially the most-watched game in women’s basketball history.
According to data released on Monday, 18.7 million people watched as Dawn Staley’s program captured its third national championship. The contest, televised on ESPN on ABC, saw an incredible peak viewership number of 24 million people.
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On3’s Eric Prisbell pointed out that regular season games for the National Football League averaged 19.7 million viewers this past season.
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The national title game record that South Carolina was a part of bested the previous high for the sport that was set by Iowa’s semifinal matchup with UConn. That game brought in a then-record 14.2 million viewers on average throughout the game, peaking at 17 million.
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The millions of viewers that tuned in were treated to watching history, as the Gamecocks became just the tenth program to turn in an undefeated season. Staley also became the fifth coach in the women’s basketball history to capture three national championships.
To celebrate the accomplishment, the city of Columbia will hold a parade to honor the Gamecocks on Sunday.
