There were fears that the 2023 men’s NCAA Tournament Finals would have lower interest from basketball fans than in years past, and those concerns were realized with the release of television numbers for the event.
March Madness in 2023 on the men’s side was filled with surprising upsets. Fans at home and in the various arenas that served as venues for the NCAA Tournament were entertained to a level they had never seen before as history was made when this year’s Final Four was the first ever not to have a No. 1 or No. 2 seed.
However, that also had a major drawback when it came to ticket sales for the Final Four in Houston, Texas. Average ticket prices for those last three games plummeted nearly by $100 from where they began earlier in the tourney. That was the first clear sign that the lack of marquee brands and top schools was going to have an effect on the interest in this year’s Final Four.
Well, the lack of interest wasn’t limited to actually attending but also viewing the event from home. On Tuesday, the rating numbers for the national championship game were revealed and they weren’t good. The game on Monday night between UConn and San Diego State scored a shockingly low average of 14.69 million viewers.
The game saw the University of Connecticut score its fifth national championship, however, it drew the fewest number of viewers ever for an NCAA Tournament Final. The number was down 14% from last year’s final and trailed the previous low of 16.05 million held by the 2018 championship game between Villanova and Michigan (via Sports Media Watch).
What makes the final number all the more stunning is that it came at the same time that interest in the women’s NCAA Tournament Final reached an all-time high. The game between LSU and Iowa scored an average of just under 10 million and peaked at over 12 million at one point.
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