ESPN’s Holly Rowe Perfectly Summed Up Historic Women’s NCAA Tournament

Tim Capurso | Apr 12, 2024

Mar 10, 2024; Las Vegas, NV, USA; ESPN reporter Holly Rowe at the Pac-12 Tournament women's / Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

For the first time in NCAA tournament history, the women's title game outpaced the men's in television ratings, as the clash between South Carolina and Iowa, won by the Gamecocks, captivated an audience of 18.9 million viewers, compared to the 14.8 million who watched UConn repeat as champions with their win over Purdue.

It's hard to put into words just how monumental this achievement is for women's basketball, but ESPN's Holly Rowe, who has been around the sport for 30 years, perfectly summed up the viewership impact during an episode of her podcast, Call Your Mom, which she co-hosts with her son.

"Women’s March Madness out-rated men’s March Madness,” Rowe said. “This is one of the most historical things ever. So, 18.9 million people watched the women’s NCAA championship game with South Carolina and Iowa. 14-something million watched the men’s game with Purdue and Connecticut. And I just never thought I’d see this day. I mean, I’ve been covering women’s college basketball for 30 years, and I never thought I’d see this day.”

It truly is a historic moment, one that was largely buoyed by the star power of Iowa's Caitlin Clark, as well as the juggernaut Gamecocks. But women's college basketball is filled with other stars, such as UConn's Paige Bueckers and USC's JuJu Watkins, making the game's future very bright indeed.