Ratings Roundup: NCAA March Madness Ends With Third Most-Watched Women's Title Game on ESPN, Most-Watched Men's Title Game Since 2021 on CBS By SVG Staff Friday, April 11, 2025 - 12:20 pm
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Ratings Roundup is a rundown of recent rating news and is derived from press releases and reports around the industry. In this week's edition, the NCAA Men's Basketball National Championship hit 18 million viewers for the most-watched game since 2021, ESPN put a bow on their 2024-25 women's college basketball season with the third most-watched National Championship game, Luka Don i 's return to Dallas was the most-watched, non-Christmas Day NBA Game on ESPN this season, and more.
NCAA Men's Basketball National Championship Sees 18 Million Viewers, Most-Watched Since 2021 on CBS Monday's Florida-Houston NCAA men's basketball national championship averaged a 9.2 rating and 18.1 million viewers on CBS, marking the highest rated men's college basketball game since the 2021 national title game between Baylor and Gonzaga at 9.4 million and the most-watched since the 2019 edition between Virginia and Texas Tech at 19.4 million.
The previous highs were set in the 2022 Final Four, a 9.1 rating for the Kansas-North Carolina title game and 17.7 million viewers for the Duke-North Carolina semifinal. The Gators' narrow win, which peaked with 21.1 million, delivered the third-largest basketball audience of any kind in the past five years - behind only last year's South Carolina-Iowa women's national title game (18.9M) and last year's United States-France men's Olympic gold medal game. (SportsMediaWatch)
ESPN Wraps Up Successful 2024-25 Women's College Basketball Campaign ESPN's coverage of the 2024-25 women's college basketball season concluded on Sunday in Tampa, FL, with the national title bout between No. 2 UConn and No. 1 South Carolina. The battle of the heavyweights scored 8.6 million viewers, the third most-viewed women's college basketball championship game on ESPN platforms and up 76% from the last time the teams played for the title in 2022. The showdown peaked with 9.9 million viewers as UConn took home its record 12th NCAA trophy.
The fan-favorite Bird & Taurasi Show Presented by AT&T was back for its fourth year and scored 716,000 viewers on ESPN during the Championship Sunday window.
Leading into the championship matchup, the one-hour NCAA Women's Basketball Championship Presented by Capital One delivered 2 million viewers. ESPN's post-game studio programming, the NCAA Women's Basketball Post-Game Show Presented by Nissan, delivered 721,000 viewers as the Huskies cut down the nets in Tampa.
The National Semifinals delivered 3.9 million viewers to become the third most-watched since ESPN acquired the rights in 1996. UConn/UCLA sits as the fifth-best Final Four game on ESPN platforms, averaging 4.2 million viewers. The late game peaked with 4.8 million viewers as the Huskies advanced to the National Championship. The early semifinal featuring Texas and South Carolina finished with 3.7 million viewers, the second most-watched early game of the National Semifinal on record. The SEC clash peaked with 4.7 million viewers.
This year's NCAA Women's March Madness (57 games) across ESPN platforms averaged 1.2 million viewers, up +22% from the 2023 tournament and a massive +89% from 2022. At the time 2023 was the most-watched NCAA Tournament in over a decade. The 2025 Tournament featured 41 games across ABC and ESPN, the most-ever on our platforms.
This year's run marks the third most-watched women's NCAA Tournament, behind only the recording-breaking 2024 season and 2004. Prior to the last three Women's NCAA Tournaments, no game on ESPN platforms topped the six million-viewer threshold - to date, there have now been eight games to perform above that mark, showcasing the continued growth of the sport.
Additionally, this year's tournament had 20 games with over 1 million viewers, which is more than any tournament pre-2024.
Viewership Success by Round:
Elite 8: 2.9 million viewers, up 34% from 2023
Second most-watched Elite 8 on record behind only 2024
ABC saw a 17% year-over-year growth, averaging 3.2 million viewers
ESPN delivered its second-best Elite 8 on record, averaging 2.6 million viewers
Four of the top 10 Elite 8 games on record aired this year: LSU-/CLA (3.4 million - No. 3), Duke/South Carolina (3.1 million - No. 4), UConn/USC (3.0 million - No.
6), TCU/Texas (2.3 million - No. 9)
Sweet 16: 1.7 million viewers, up 39% from 2023
Second most-watched Sweet 16 on record behind only 2024
ABC saw its second-best Sweet 16 on record with 2.7 million viewers
ESPN averaged 1.4 million viewers to deliver the second-best Sweet 16 ever, down only 3% year-over-year
This year delivered four of the top 10 Sweet 16 games of all-time: Tennessee/Texas (2.9 million - No. 3), Notre Dame/TCU (2.5 million - No. 4), Oklahoma/UConn (1.9 million - No. 8), Maryland/South Carolina (1.7 million - No. 10)
Second Round: 982,000 viewers, up 60% from 2023
Second most-watched Second Round on record behind only 2024
ESPN averaged its third best Second Round on record with 991,000 viewers
ESPN2 averaged 755,000 viewers across two games, its best Second Round since 2010
South Dakota State/UConn, Indiana/South Carolina and Mississippi State/USC all rank within the Top 10 for most-watched Second Round games on record
Alabama/Maryland on ESPN2 peaked with 1.6 million viewers in the second overtime
First Round: 367,000 viewers, up 43% from 2023
Second most-watched First Round since 2013 trailing only behind last year's historic season
The average margin of victory from the 2025 First Round was +26.5, the highest for any single round in NCAA
