Yo, the Catilin Clark effect is real, cuz check this out:
The most-watched basketball game in five years.
FIVE YEARS!!
On Friday night, Iowa's Final Four matchup against UConn broke the women's basketball TV record with 14.42 million viewers, and then on Sunday the women's final between Iowa and South Carolina broke it again, averaging 18.87 million viewers.
The men's final on Monday: 14.82 million.
Sunday's women's championship game between South Carolina and Iowa brought in 18.87 million viewers on ABC and ESPN, a record for women's basketball in the United States and the most watched hoops contest of any kind in five years. The women's final boasted a 90 percent increase over the 9.92 million who tuned in for the 2023 game. The women's Final Four games averaged 7.17 million and 14.42 million viewers, with the latter game (Iowa vs. Connecticut) setting an all-time record for women's hoops, until it was broken two days later with the final game.
The men's game:
Connecticut's 75-60 victory over Purdue on Monday — a result that was not in doubt for most of the second half — averaged 14.82 million viewers across TBS, TNT and TruTV. That's a smidge better than the 14.69 million who watched UConn win the title last year on CBS, which is the lowest on record.
Ladies and gentlemen, that's the first time ever that the women's final has received more viewers than the men's.
Let's give it up for the women!
Okay, now let's talk about equal pay for female athletes.
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