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Caitlin Clark may not have been able to lead Iowa to its first national championship title, but she exited the college basketball circuit with a bang. The Hawkeyes suffered an 87-75 defeat against Dawn Staley's South Carolina Gamecocks in this year's postseason finale, which reportedly became the most-viewed women’s college basketball game of all time.
Clark, who has NIL deals worth $3.2 million as per On3, has been a key factor in boosting viewership for women's college basketball.
As per reports from ESPN, the Iowa vs. South Carolina contest on Sunday afternoon set a new record of 18.7 million viewers. Notably, the broadcast on ABC peaked at a whopping 24 million viewers.
The game was also the most watched basketball game at the college and professional level in the men's or women's field since 2019. Reports suggest that this year's championship game saw an 89% increase in viewership from last season's finale between Iowa and LSU.
It's also important to note that Clark's Iowa Hawkeyes broke several viewership records throughout the NCAA Tournament before the championship game against the Gamecocks. Previously, they held the record for the most-watched women’s college basketball game when they beat LSU in the Elite Eight as part of last year's championship rematch.
ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro released a statement on the record-breaking viewership numbers around the championship game.
“With a record-setting audience of 18.7 million viewers, Sunday’s Iowa-South Carolina title game was a fitting finale to the most-viewed ever NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament,” Pitaro said.
“These exceptional athletes, coaches and teams captured our attention in unprecedented ways and it’s incumbent on all of us to keep the incredible momentum going. I’m also very proud of our talented and committed employees for how they presented this historic event.”
A recap of Caitlin Clark's NCAA stats and career honors
Although Caitlin Clark was unable to win a national championship with Iowa, she left her mark in the NCAA.
Clark led the Hawkeyes to two national championship appearances and won three Big Ten Tournament titles. She won two national Player of the Year awards, was named the Big Ten Player of the Year thrice and holds the NCAA's all-time scoring record with 3,951 points.
After Caitlin Clark's star-studded collegiate career, attention will turn toward the WNBA draft, where she is projected as the top pick.
