23 under 23 for 2023: Young stars shine bright in women’s sports
From Sophia Smith to Suni Lee to Aliyah Boston, keep your eye on these athletes.
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Saturday’s NCAA women’s gymnastics national championship, which aired on ABC, drew an average of 922,000 viewers, making it the most-watched college gymnastics meet ever on ESPN networks. The broadcast peaked at 1.1 million viewers.
Viewership increased by 11 percent over 2021.
Saturday's #NCAAGym Championship on ABC - featuring @OU_WGymnastics, @GatorsGym, @UtahGymnastics & @AuburnGym - was the most-watched college gymnastics meet ever on ESPN networks pic.twitter.com/GrjOQeCYJY
— ESPN PR (@ESPNPR) April 19, 2022
Women ages 18 through 49 turned out to watch Oklahoma win its fifth NCAA title. That demographic segment increased by 58 percent over 2021. Women accounted for 55 percent of the total audience, making the meet one of the most-watched events for women ever across ESPN’s networks.
Social media was also a major draw for the event, with “#NCAAGym” trending throughout the afternoon. Women’s gymnastics drew more engagement on ESPN’s social media than any other women’s sport in 2022, with more than 100 million impressions.
Despite this, women’s gymnastics makes up roughly 1.1 percent of reported NIL activities on Opendorse’s platforms.
This has been a banner year for women’s sports, with basketball, volleyball and gymnastics all posting record-breaking ratings.
From Sophia Smith to Suni Lee to Aliyah Boston, keep your eye on these athletes.
Naomi Osaka tops the list for the third straight year.
Carey scored 14.516.
Jones took silver in all-around.