SLAM DUNK

NCAA Women’s Championship Game Got More Viewers Than Men’s for First Time

The women’s tournament nevertheless earned dramatically less TV money than the men’s.

The NCAA women’s basketball tournament championship game attracted more TV viewers than the men’s final for the first time ever on Sunday. About 18.9 million viewers watched the University of South Carolina defeat Iowa in the women’s final, according to Nielsen figures. As well as being roughly four times the number of viewers that watched the women’s final two years ago, it was also more than the 14.8 million who tuned in to watch the men’s final between Purdue and Connecticut on Monday. Despite attracting millions more viewers, the women’s tournament earned dramatically less from TV rights than the men’s, according to The Wall Street Journal, which reported that the women’s tournament brought in $6.5 million compared with the men’s $873 million. The Journal said part of the disparity was explained by differences in the way the rights deals are structured, with the men’s tournament being sold as a standalone entity while the women’s is folded into a package of 40 different sports championships.