Women's basketball viewership rises, top 10 watched games of men's opening weekend

On3 imageby:Pete Nakos•03/22/23•

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Viewership is seeing notable growth in the men’s and women’s college basketball tournaments this year.

The men’s tournament drew in 9.2 million viewers on Thursday and Friday in the combination of the four windows each day.

The women’s tournament has a smaller audience, with roughly 257,000 viewers tuning into ESPN/ABC for first-round action. Viewership was still up 27% year over year, according to ESPN. The second round saw a jump, drawing in 615,000 average viewers.

Sports in general appears to be on the rise, with college football and the Super Bowl having record years. But the noticeable growth in college basketball is a positive sign. It’s a win for cable, too.

The men’s tournament averaged 9.04 million viewers through the second round this past Sunday, down from 9.12 million last year. This year, however, remains up 11% from two years ago.

Here are the top 10 most-watched games from the opening weekend of the NCAA Tournament.

  1. Michigan State vs. Marquette on CBS — 10.9 million
  2. Arkansas vs. Kansas on CBS — 9.5 million
  3. Kentucky vs. Kansas State on CBS — 9.4 million
  4. Duke vs. Tennessee on CBS — 8.9 million
  5. Penn State vs. Texas on CBS — 6.6 million
  6. Pitt vs. Xavier on CBS — 5.5 million
  7. Furman vs. San Diego State on CBS — 4.8 million
  8. Fairleigh Dickinson vs. Purdue on TNT — 4.3 million
  9. West Virginia vs. Maryland on CBS — 4.1 million
  10. USC vs. Michigan State on CBS — 4 million

What’s clear from the opening two rounds of the men’s tournament is viewers love to watch the upsets, while also hoping their runs don’t run early. The afternoon and early primetime windows performed well on CBS on Saturday and Sunday, too.

Tournament expansion could take away from the upsets. FDU over Purdue was only the second 16-over-1 in tourney history.

“A terrible idea,” a veteran TV source told On3’s Eric Prisbell about the thought of expansion. “If you think regular-season men’s basketball has limited media value now, expanding the tournament might just wipe it out completely. Why bother to watch the regular season if everyone is going to make the tournament? Why not make the entire season one giant triple-elimination tournament?”

Women’s tournament viewership up 28% year over year

No. 2 seed Iowa’s 74-66 win in the second round over No. 10 seed Georgia was also a win for the women’s tournament. The game registered 1.5 million viewers, which is the most-viewed early round game on record on ESPN.

The first and second rounds combined for a 28% year over year growth — roughly 391,000 viewers. Here is the breakdown of the top five watched games of the women’s opening weekend:

  1. Georgia vs. Iowa on ABC — 1.5 million
  2. USF vs. South Carolina on ABC — 1.1 million
  3. Baylor vs. UConn on ESPN — 943,000
  4. Miami vs Indiana on ESPN2 — 878,000
  5. Louisville vs. Texas on ESPN — 783,000

All five games were played in the second round. Miami’s win over Indiana sends the Hurricanes to their first Sweet 16 since 1992. This year’s women’s Sweet 16 features only two regionals — Greenville and Seattle — opposed to the traditional four.

There are also plenty of noticeable brands in the tournament’s second weekend, including Baylor, Ohio State, South Carolina, Tennessee and UConn.