NCAA D-I Women's Basketball Tournament Off To Record-Breaking Start

NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Championship attendance and ratings records continue to be rewritten as the opening rounds of the 2024 championship concluded Monday at top-16-seed First Four and first- and second-round host sites.

With sellout crowds filling several sites, attendance for the opening rounds shattered records for the third consecutive season. A total of 292,456 fans came through the turnstiles to watch first- and second-round games, an increase of 60,779 fans over 2023, when a then-record 231,677 fans attended. Iowa City topped all hosting sites, welcoming sellout crowds totaling 28,764 fans for the first and second rounds, marking three straight years of sellouts at Carver Hawkeye Arena, with Caitlin Clark leading the way. 

Attendance at the opening rounds also helped to push the all-time NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Championship attendance over the 9 million mark, with 9,290,650 fans attending over the 41-plus years of the championship.

Championship ratings also continue to soar, with millions of fans tuning into coverage across ESPN platforms, inclusive of ABC. The NCAA Women's Selection Show on ESPN, which aired March 17, averaged 1.94 million viewers, which was up 52% from the 2023 Selection Show and was the most-watched edition in 20 years. Fueled by 236,000 viewers for the Arizona-Auburn game on March 21, First Four games averaged 184,000 viewers, up 24% from last year. Complete first- and second-round ratings will be provided by ESPN later this week.

There were several individual highlights over the first week of championship play, including a record two 40-point-plus scoring efforts: Kiki Iriafen of Stanford (41 points) and Audi Crooks of Iowa State (40). On the sidelines, Tara VanDerveer of Stanford on Sunday posted her 100th career championship coaching win, which is currently third all-time behind Geno Auriemma of UConn (134) and Pat Summitt of Tennessee (112). Stanford's Maples Pavilion hosted three more first- and second-round games, upping to 83 the games hosted in the venue, the most all-time. 

"We expected the historic success and quality of play and high level of competition from the regular season would carry through into March Madness. Our championship is again delivering," said Lynn Holzman, NCAA vice president of women's basketball. "Record crowds, ratings, incredible performances and evolving storylines will continue to make the next two weeks a must-see for fans across the world."

Regional play in Albany, New York (MVP Arena) and Portland, Oregon (Moda Center) will take place Friday through Monday. Four games will take place this Friday on ESPN, with Albany Regional 1 getting things started with Notre Dame playing Oregon State at 2:30 p.m. ET, while No. 1 overall seed South Carolina takes on Indiana at 5 p.m. ET. Portland Regional 4 games on Friday include NC State playing Stanford at 7:30 p.m. ET, while Gonzaga plays Texas at 10 p.m. ET.

On Saturday, ABC will televise both games of Albany Regional 2, with LSU playing UCLA at 1 p.m. ET, while Iowa plays Colorado at 3:30 p.m. ET. Portland Regional 3 games on ESPN that night will have Baylor playing Southern California at 5:30 p.m. ET, while Duke will play UConn at 8 p.m. ET.    

Both Albany and Portland will each host two regional championship games Sunday on ABC, and two on Monday, with both airing on ESPN.

The 2024 NCAA Women's Final Four will be played April 5 and 7 at the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland.

Tickets for all championship games can be purchased here.