Iowa-LSU women's college basketball game beats 2023 Masters in viewership, averages 12.3 million viewers: Reports

The viewership of the Iowa-LSU women's basketball match in the Elite Eight of the NCAA tournament edged past the final round of the Masters 2023.

As per Nielson, the game that took place on Monday night averaged 12.3 million viewers and became the most-watched college basketball game to air on ESPN platforms.

Iowa defeated LSU 94-87, with Caitlin Clark once again proving to be their best performer by scoring 41 points in the Hawkeyes' revenge for last year's defeat in the national championship game.

The final round of the Masters 2023 had an average viewership of 12.1 million. The 12.3 million viewers of the Iowa-LSU basketball match made it one of the most-viewed events of any sport outside of NFL football in the past year.

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Was the Masters the most-watched golf event in 2023?

Jon Rahm during The Masters 2023

The Masters 2023 was the most watched golf sporting event last year and was 131st among all the sports events in the US. The US Open was second among the golf events, with the final round averaging 8.8 million viewers during prime time.

Last year, the NFL dominated most of the list, covering 96 of the top 100 spots in most-watched programs. The Super Bowl LVII between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles took the top spot with 114.3 million average viewers.

Here's the list of the most-watched sporting events in 2023 (the date is written inside the bracket):

1. Super Bowl LVII (2/12): Chiefs-Eagles: 114.3M
2. AFC Championship (1/29): Chiefs-Bengals: 53.12M
3. NFC Championship (1/29): Eagles-49ers: 47.5M
4. NFC Divisional (1/22): 49ers-Cowboys: 45.65M
5. NFL: Commanders-Cowboys (Thanksgiving) (11/23): 41.76M
6. AFC Divisional (1/22): Bengals-Bills: 39.32M
7. AFC Divisional (1/21): Chiefs-Jaguars: 34.3M
8. NFL: Packers-Lions (Thanksgiving) (11/23): 33.7M
9. NFC Wild Card (1/15): Giants-Vikings: 33.21M
10. NFL: Cowboys-Dolphins (12/24): 31.52M
11. NFC Wild Card (1/16): Cowboys-Buccaneers: 31.1M
12. NFL: Bills-Eagles (11/26): 30.9M
13. AFC Wild Card (1/15): Bills-Dolphins: 30.87M
14. Monday Night Football: Eagles-Chiefs (11/20): 29.86M
15. NFL: Raiders-Chiefs (Christmas) (12/25): 29.17M
16. NFL: Giants-Eagles (Christmas) (12/25): 29.02M
17. NFC Divisional (1/21): Giants-Eagles: 28.64M
18. AFC Wild Card (1/15): Bengals-Ravens: 28.6M
19. NFL: 49ers-Eagles (12/3): 27.7M
20. NFL: Ravens-49ers (12/25): 27.61M
21. NFL Kickoff: Lions-Chiefs (9/7): 27.5M
22. NFC Wild Card (1/14): 49ers-Seahawks: 27.46M
23. Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade (11/23): 27.35M
24. NFL: Cowboys-Eagles (11/5): 27.14M
25. Sunday Night Football: Jets-Chiefs (10/1): 27M
26. Sunday Night Football: Eagles-Cowboys (12/10): 26.5M
27. NFL: 49ers-Seahawks (Thanksgiving) (11/23): 26.4M
28. NFL: Bills-Cowboys (12/17): 26.34M
29. Sunday Night Football: 49ers-Cowboys (10/8): 26.3M
30. NFL: Bengals-Chiefs (12/31): 26.17M
31. NFL: Eagles-Jets (10/15): 26.09M
32. NFL: Lions-Cowboys (12/30): 26.06M
33. NFL: Bengals-49ers (10/29): 26.06M
34. NFL: Bills-Chiefs (12/10): 26.04M
35. NFL: Jets-Cowboys (9/17): 25.78M
36. Sunday Night Football: Chiefs-Packers (12/3): 25.4M
37. State of the Union (President Biden address) (2/7): 25.39M
38. NFL: Chargers-Chiefs (10/22): 24.68M
39. NFL: Packers-Vikings (1/1): 24.62M
40. NFL: Bears-Chiefs (9/24): 24.32M