Millions of people tuned in to watch Caitlin Clark and Iowa take on Angel Reese and LSU last night in the Elite Eight.
The game, which was a rematch of last year’s intense and emotional National Championship, was to punch a ticket to the Final Four. And if that didn’t make the stakes high enough, the storylines and characters all clashing together made the matchup must-watch television.
That was proven by the fact that a record 12.3 million people tuned in to watch the game, making the matchup the most-watched women’s basketball game ever (and the most watched college basketball game that’s ever aired on ESPN):
Caitlin Clark went absolute bonkers on Iowa’s way to a 94 to 87 victory over LSU. The sharpshooter nearly posted a triple double, scoring 41 points, dishing out 12 assists, and bringing down 7 rebounds.
She was the definition of unstoppable, which led to this picture that will now forever be a meme of LSU’s Hailey Van Lith shrugging her shoulders after Clark swished yet another deep three:
The TV viewership for the game was expected to break records before it tipped off, though the numbers still exceeded a lot of the highest expectations for the matchup. For reference, the Elite Eight game that pitted Clark against Angel Reese performed better than all of these other sporting events that aired on live television:
-The 2023 NBA Finals (except Denver clinching in Game 5)
-The 2023 World Series
-The 2023 Orange Bowl
-The 2023 Big Ten Championship
-The 2023 Cotton Bowl
-The 2023 Pac-12 Championship
-The 2023 Big-12 Championship
-The 2023 ACC Championship
-The 2023 Peach Bowl
-Thursday Night Football
-Every 2023 college football regular season game (except Ohio State vs. Michigan)
That’s unbelievable, and for those that have been working to grow the women’s game, it’s a huge step in the right direction. If you are wondering why so many people tuned in to watch, it’s actually really simple: Caitlin Clark brings in monstrous viewership.
With only a couple of games left in Clark’s college career (potentially), only time will tell if the TV viewership continues to pour in, and if those numbers follow her to her professional career. My guess is that wherever Clark goes, the numbers will follow.
