While neither 2024 men’s Final Four game could match up to the viewership for the women’s Final Four matchup between Iowa and UConn, the pair was up from 2023’s games.
The two games averaged 12.84 million viewers across TBS, TNT, and truTV, a 4% increase from last year’s two games on CBS.
In the early window Saturday, Purdue’s win over NC State averaged 11.45 million viewers across the three networks, down 4% from San Diego State-FAU last year (11.90 million). Later, UConn’s win over Alabama averaged 14.18 million viewers, up 10% from the Huskies’ win over Miami a year ago (12.85 million).
Both audiences were lower than Iowa’s win over UConn on Friday night, which averaged a then-record 14.42 million viewers across ESPN and ESPN2. The initial fast estimate on that game was 14.2 million viewers, with the final viewership increasing.
For the round as a whole, the men outdrew the women. Including South Carolina’s win over NC State on Friday, the women’s Final Four averaged 11.01 million viewers.
As we await viewership for Monday’s title game between UConn and Purdue, it doesn’t look like it’ll draw a higher number than the women’s game on Sunday between South Carolina and Iowa (18.7 million viewers). The first half was tight and probably kept some fans on the fence invested, but UConn pulled away in the second half to win by 15 and remove all doubt. That result, combined with the late tip (9:20 p.m. on the East Coast) and the game airing on cable, doesn’t seem conducive for a huge number.
[Data via Sports Media Watch]
