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UConn-Purdue viewership up slightly from 2023 men’s title game, 4.1 million below South Carolina-Iowa

Connecticut’s emphatic win over Purdue in Monday’s men’s national championship game averaged 14.8 million viewers, Turner Sports said Tuesday, a slight uptick from the Huskies’ 2023 win over San Diego State.

Last year’s title game recorded 14.69 million viewers and was the least-watched men’s title game on record.

By contrast, the women’s national championship game of Iowa-South Carolina drew a record 18.9 million viewers and peaked at 24.1 million, marking the first time women’s title game viewership outpaced the men’s. Viewership for the women’s championship increased 90 percent from 2023 and 289 percent from 2022.

This is from @nielsen — it highlights how historical this women’s Tournament was as far as interest.

I know I’ve said this on this site a thousand times: There’s $$$ sitting there for companies, outlets, individuals if they invest (smartly) in women’s college basketball. Let’s… pic.twitter.com/t4CFP7QYvF

— Richard Deitsch (@richarddeitsch) April 9, 2024

The second consecutive low-viewership number for the men’s title game shouldn’t be much of a surprise. If you are looking for whys, there are a couple of educated guesses.

First, the game was hurt by a large margin of victory. UConn led by as many as 18 points in the 75-60 victory. You lose tune-in late in games if it’s not close.

This year’s tournament did not have any Zion Williamson-type players who were locks for a top-five NBA Draft selection.

The title game aired on TBS/truTV and TNT, which has fewer households than CBS. The start time — 9:20 p.m. ET — didn’t help. Also, the national semifinals did not really provide major viewership momentum. It all adds up. The tournament will always have interest given how many people fill out brackets and gamble on the games but from this vantage point, you do need stars to pop a big rating.

The men’s national championship game hasn’t surpassed 20 million viewers since 2017, when UNC-Gonzaga drew 22.998 million on CBS. The men’s national championship game viewership record remains at 35.1 million viewers for Michigan State–Indiana State in 1979.

The entire 2024 men’s NCAA Tournament averaged 9.9 million viewers for its 67 games, according to TNT and CBS Sports, representing a 3 percent increase from 2023.