Caitlin Clark’s Historic Feat Delivers Higher TV Ratings Than NBA Opening Night Games

The Iowa Hawkeyes women’s basketball team’s win over the Ohio State Buckeyes drew a massive audience.
Caitlin Clark’s Historic Feat Delivers Higher TV Ratings Than NBA Opening Night Games
Caitlin Clark’s Historic Feat Delivers Higher TV Ratings Than NBA Opening Night Games /
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On the court, Iowa guard Caitlin Clark has set records in spades. The Hawkeyes superstar reached major college basketball’s final scoring frontier Sunday, passing legendary LSU guard Pete Maravich to set a new all-gender mark of 3,685 points.

It is her gravitational pull off the court, however, that has allowed Clark to reach a rare celebrity status in college athletics.

Accordingly, No. 6 Iowa’s 93-83 victory over No. 2 Ohio State on Sunday afternoon on Fox drew a remarkable television audience of 3.4 million viewers.

That number represents a higher figure than the viewership for TNT’s NBA opening night doubleheader on Oct. 24, as well as San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama’s hotly anticipated NBA debut against the Dallas Mavericks on Oct. 25.

Clark’s record-breaking 35-point outing, which attracted dignitaries such as former WNBA All-Star forward Maya Moore, Baseball Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan and musician Travis Scott, vaulted the Hawkeyes past the Buckeyes in the latest AP poll. Iowa is now ranked No. 3 in the nation, and Ohio State is No. 4.

More importantly, it brought continued attention to women’s college basketball–a game that has boomed in recent years due to the efforts of Clark, LSU forward Angel Reese and other stars.


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Patrick Andres
PATRICK ANDRES

Patrick Andres is a staff writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He joined SI in December 2022, having worked for The Blade, Athlon Sports, Fear the Sword and Diamond Digest. Andres has covered everything from zero-attendance Big Ten basketball to a seven-overtime college football game. He is a graduate of Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism with a double major in history .