Records seem to be broken every time Iowa women’s basketball star Caitlin Clark touches the court.
Here’s another: Women’s college basketball is drawing more viewers than men’s college games on Fox, according to Michael Mulvihill, president of insight and analytics at Fox Sports.
Women’s games are averaging 981,000 viewers, compared with 946,000 for the men. Fox’s women’s basketball regular-season slate featured a record 14 games, the network said. It featured nearly 40 men’s games.
Sunday’s Iowa-Ohio State matchup on Fox earned3.39 million average viewers, the highest TV turnout for a regular-season women’s college basketball game on any network in 25 years. Viewership peaked at 4.42 million, and it was the most watched women’s college basketball game in Fox Sports’ history, the network said.
The game’s first half ended with Clark passing “Pistol” Pete Maravich’s 3,667 points for the NCAA all-time scoring record (men’s and women’s) via two free throws. She finished with 35 on the day to wrap a regular season that saw her average 32.3 points per game.
Women’s college basketball viewership is up 60% on all national networks and up 48% on Fox, Mulvihill said. Clark and her Iowa Hawkeyes specifically have been a part of the highest-viewed games on six major networks as of Feb. 28, according to the Big Ten.
The TV audience for Clark’s games has increased along with the live gate receipts. Iowa sold out all of its home games in 2023-24, and the Big Ten announced its upcoming postseason women’s basketball tournament is sold out for the first time in history.
The WNBA’s Indiana Fever also saw their average ticket price double, Vivid Seats said, after Clark announced her intention to go pro. The Fever have the No. 1 pick and are expected to select Clark.