The NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament is off to an impressive start, achieving its second-most-watched Sweet 16 on record, only behind last year’s Caitlin Clark-driven ratings surge. According to ESPN PR, the regional semifinal round averaged 1.7 million viewers across ESPN’s family of networks.
The 2025 @MarchMadnessWBB Sweet 16 was the second most-watched on RECORD 👏
🏀 1.7M avg. viewers
🏀 Recorded 4 of the top 10 most-watched Sweet 16 games EVER#NCAAWBB | #MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/aJkqIfOBTS— ESPN PR (@ESPNPR) April 1, 2025
ABC’s Saturday afternoon doubleheader showcased the round, with No. 1 seed Texas’s victory over No. 5 seed Tennessee leading the day. This game averaged 2.9 million viewers across ABC, ESPN+, and Disney+, making it the third-most-watched Sweet 16 game on record, peaking at 3.6 million viewers. Additionally, TCU’s win over Notre Dame at 1 p.m. ET on ABC also garnered impressive viewership, averaging 2.5 million viewers, good for fourth place among Sweet 16 games.
On ESPN, Saturday evening’s matchup between Oklahoma and UConn averaged 1.9 million viewers, securing its spot among the top 10 most-watched Sweet 16 games. South Carolina’s victory over Maryland on Friday evening averaged 1.7 million viewers, qualifying it as another top-10 Sweet 16 game.
Despite this year’s Sweet 16 audience being down by 29% compared to last year’s record-setting 2.4 million viewers, it is still up 39% when compared to 2023, when Caitlin Clark was less of a draw. As expected, this year’s tournament has produced many second-bests due to last year’s unprecedented success. However, the consistent double-digit improvements over 2023 indicate that women’s college basketball has established a higher baseline viewership, as supported by ESPN’s year-over-year ratings improvements during the regular season.
So while second-best is generally a commendable achievement in television ratings, that distinction is even more significant given the context of last year’s remarkable tournament.
