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2025 Final Four Ratings Put Caitlin Clark's Popularity Into Perspective

Originally posted on The Spun | By Kameron Duncan | Last updated Apr 5, 2025 5:20 PM ET

The women's college basketball season is set to culminate in the national championship game on Sunday afternoon. Two elite teams will meet to decide which program takes home the title in UConn and South Carolina, and there's certainly interest from fans around the country.

Those fans have tuned in to give ESPN great numbers for another women's tournament broadcasting cycle, but they pale in comparison to the ratings generated over the last two years.

It's clear that the difference has been the relative lack of star power. Players like Paige Bueckers, Lauren Betts and Madison Booker are great individual talents, but Caitlin Clark's rise to fame at Iowa was unlike anything women's basketball has ever seen.

Clark and Iowa captured the hearts and minds of basketball fans during the last two tournaments, as the NCAA's all-time leading scorer led her team to two straight national title games.

The 2023 tournament was highlighted by the epic showdown between Clark and LSU's Angel Reese in the national championship. Last year, Clark and the Hawkeyes met an undefeated South Carolina in the national championship game.

According to Nielsen, ESPN averaged 3.9 million viewers for Friday's two women's Final Four games.

“Friday’s NCAA women’s basketball national semifinals averaged 3.9 million viewers across the ESPN networks, per Nielsen fast-nationals — trailing only the past two years as the highest average since ESPN began carrying the event exclusively in 1995. Viewership fell 65 percent… https://t.co/IbApBMVnYK
— Vanshay Murdock (@VanshayM) April 5, 2025

Those numbers are the highest ESPN has recorded outside of the last two years for this event, but they're down nearly 65% from last year's record of 11.0 million viewers. They're also down from 2023's peak of 4.5 million viewers.

The numbers still show encouraging trends for women's basketball as a whole. Numbers are up from the pre-Caitlin Clark era, and women's college basketball continues to do well on social media and with engagement from fans.

ESPN, NBC and FOX have all reported record highs for women's college basketball games over the last few seasons, and those games have featured a variety of different programs.

CLEVELAND, OHIO - APRIL 07: Caitlin Clark #22 of the Iowa Hawkeyes shoots a three point basket over Bree Hall #23 of the South Carolina Gamecocks in the first half during the 2024 NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament National Championship at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse on April 07, 2024 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)Gregory Shamus/Getty Images

The WNBA and its media partners are set to enjoy the benefits of Clark's second professional season when the league returns in May. 41 of the Indiana Fever's 44 games will be nationally televised, including major matchups against Reese and the Chicago Sky.

Bueckers will join the league this season as well, and fans are anticipating a similar level of support that Clark received during her rookie season. We'll see how the WNBA season plays out for Clark, Bueckers and the rest of the league's stars when it begins next month.

This article first appeared on The Spun and was syndicated with permission.

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