Interest in NCAA gymnastics continues to soar, after Saturday’s 2026 championships final averaged a record 1.1 million viewers on ABC.
The broadcast peaked at 1.7 million — another NCAA gymnastics record — as Oklahoma won its second straight title in a tight showdown.
The meet’s viewership was up 10% year-over-year, as well as 9% over its previous high in 2023.
"I mean, I was in disbelief today," Oklahoma gymnastics head coach KJ Kindler said after her team's championships win. "We were just on the edge of our seats. I honestly could not believe it... You don't get immune to the feeling of having an accomplishment like this."
Much like other women’s sports, NCAA gymnastics saw an uptick in both attendance and TV ratings this season — backed by some serious star power.
ESPN’s regular-season coverage broke records in January, as a high-profile meet between Oklahoma, Utah, LSU, and Olympian Jordan Chiles at UCLA averaged 838,000 viewers — with LSU and Utah both posting record home opener attendance this year.
Monday’s WNBA Draft viewership delivered, after an average of 1.5 million viewers tuned in to ESPN’s coverage — marking the second-most watched event on record.
Viewership peaked at 1.79 million near the end of the first around, well after Dallas selected UConn’s Azzi Fudd No. 1 overall.
Ratings were up 20% over 2025, falling second only to 2024, when 2.45 million saw Indiana take Iowa’s Caitlin Clark with its first pick.
Monday’s numbers reinforce the women’s basketball boom’s endurance, arriving shortly after ESPN aired the second-most watched March Madness in network history.
Prior to 2024, WNBA draft viewership peaked at just 601,000 in 2004, while the last three years remain the only broadcasts to clear seven figures.
The 2026 WNBA Draft also ranked as the night’s top program among male-identified adults aged 25 to 54 and all adults from 18 to 34 — providing a captive audience as the league heads into its 30th season.
"The past 30 years have been about building the foundation. The next 30 are about scaling the game, unlocking what's possible for the entirety of women's basketball and women's sports," WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert told reporters in New York.
"Season 30 arrives at what I think is the perfect moment... this starts a new chapter, and I can't wait for what's ahead."
ESPN reported Tuesday that its 2026 Women's March Madness coverage delivered the second-highest viewership in network history, continuing the NCAA tournament's upward ratings trajectory.
Sunday's championship game between UCLA and South Carolina averaged 9.9 million viewers and peaked at 10.7 million, becoming ESPN's third-most watched women's final on record.
Both Women's March Madness Final Four matchups drew strong viewership numbers. South Carolina's 62-48 semifinal victory over previously undefeated UConn averaged 5.4 million viewers, while UCLA's win over Texas registered 5 million in the nightcap.
The 2026 tournament's ESPN viewership ranked second behind 2024's record-breaking run despite a repeat field, with 21 games averaging over 1 million viewers each. However, Iowa alum Caitlin Clark's 2023 and 2024 Final Four appearances continue to hold the top ESPN viewership spots.
“We are thrilled with the continued momentum we have seen across women’s basketball this season," said ESPN Senior Director of Programming and Acquisitions Dan Margulis.
"We delivered our strongest regular-season performance in 17 years, the second-best NCAA Tournament overall and continued to grow excitement around the game. That success reflects the dedication of the student-athletes on the court, as well as the commitment of ESPN, the conferences, and the NCAA to grow the game of women’s basketball."
The strong numbers arrive as women's college basketball continues expanding its mainstream audience. The tournament aired across ESPN networks linear and digital, including in primetime on ABC.
UCLA's title marked coach Cori Close's first NCAA title after 15 seasons with the program.
How to Watch 2027 Women's March Madness on ESPN
The women's NCAA tournament returns to ESPN next spring, with Selection Sunday scheduled for mid-March, 2027.
This year's March Madness is soaking up the spotlight, as early reports indicate that the 2026 competition boasts the second most-watched first and second rounds in NCAA women's basketball tournament history.
Trailing only the Caitlin Clark-fueled 2024 postseason, this season's tournament is already topping 2025's historic viewership numbers.
According to ESPN, this year's bracket logged the second most-consumed first round on record, with overall No. 1-seed UConn's victory over No. 16 UTSA and No. 1 South Carolina's win over No. 16 Southern U clocking in as the sixth and seventh most-watched tournament openers in history.
Also snagging a major viewership mark was No. 7 NC State's opening win over No. 10 Tennessee, with drew an average of 767,000 fans to become the No. 1 weekday first-round clash on record.
This year's second round secured similar records, with a 1 million viewership average making the Round of 32 the second most-watched in women's March Madness history.
The Gamecocks' second-round win over No. 9 USC led the weekend with an average of 1.8 million fans tuning in, followed by the Huskies' ousting of No. 9 Syracuse with a 1.5 million viewership average.
Second-round upsets also proved compelling, as No. 6 Notre Dame's win over No. 3 Ohio State drew an average of 1.5 million viewers, while No. 10 Virginia's toppling of No. 2 Iowa attracted 1.4 million.
All four of those tilts clocked into the Top 10 for the most-watched second round clashes in history.
The 2026 NCAA women's basketball tournament has already amassed 3.3 billion total minutes, giving it the second most-consumed first two rounds on record.
How to watch the 2026 March Madness tournament
Be a part of this year's historic viewership by tuning into March Madness when the Sweet 16 takes the court this weekend.
The action tips off at 2:30 PM ET on Friday, with eight games airing live across the two-day round.
The LPGA unveiled seven major broadcast enhancements for the 2026 season at last week's Founders Cup, marking the most significant television overhaul in tour history.
The biggest change brings live TV coverage to all LPGA event rounds for the first time ever, as the tour partnered with FM to dramatically expand broadcast hours and maximize audience reach.
Craig Kessler leads the transformation, joining the LPGA less than a year ago and before spending the past 12 months reinventing how the tour approaches its audience. Kessler's strategy mirrors the NFL's playbook of maximizing viewership — even at the expense of some TV revenue.
Camera equipment received a 50% increase for 2026. The LPGA also upgraded microphones and slow-motion camera capabilities to add more texture and detail to broadcasts.
Drone photography also got an upgrade, with a larger fleet capturing dynamic new images during competition, while shot tracer capabilities quadrupled through an expanded partnership with TrackMan. According to reports, the graphics department saw the largest increase between 2025 and 2026.
The LPGA is investing heavily in feature-driven programming designed to run during tournament broadcasts. The first feature profiled world No. 78 Rose Zhang, detailing the US golfer's educational journey at Stanford during Founders Weekend.
Player access has expanded via enhanced walk-and-talk efforts during the season, making the tour's most prominent faces and names more accessible to fans. Similar improvements are also popping up on the LPGA's social media accounts, with more coming during tournament broadcasts.
The changes mirror advancements in the men's game while positioning the LPGA to capture — and grow — a new generation of golf fans.
The 2026 season of Unrivaled 3x3 Basketball saw both gains and losses, with the second-year league reporting rising attendance and revenue while also experiencing a TV ratings drop.
Arguably the league's biggest successes this year were the Miami-based offseason venture's two satellite events, with Unrivaled drawing a professional women's basketball regular-season record crowd of 21,490 fans in Philadelphia last month before adding a second sellout tour stop in Brooklyn for March's semifinals.
Buoyed by those off-campus events as well as expanded fan capacity at the league's Sephora Arena home, Unrivaled earned millions in ticket sales in 2026, garnering a more than 200% increase over its debut season.
Season 2, however, also experienced a broadcast dip, as the semifinals averaged 213,000 viewers with overall playoff viewership down 9% from 2025.
This year's Unrivaled championship game did provide some bounce-back, with the Mist's trophy win delivering the third-most watched game in league history — trailing only 2025's 1v1 tournament final and the inaugural title game.
Despite the viewership decline, Unrivaled commissioner Micky Lawler reported that the league brought in $45 million in total revenue this year — up from 2025's $27 million.
"Last year, when we had projected $13.5 million in revenue, we actually ended up with $27 million in revenue, and this year, we're at approximately $45 million," Lawler told reporters. "That speaks to the financial performance, but it's a natural byproduct of putting the players and the fans first while consistently raising the bar and setting new standards."
While SC Corinthians fell just short of the inaugural intercontinental title on Sunday, the 2026 FIFA W Champions Cup final did prove a massive success for the Brazil league's champions, scoring the highest viewership for a women's club match in the South American country's history.
Brazilian network CazéTV covered the competition's semifinals and final, with the broadcaster registering more than 1 million concurrent streams during Sunday's championship match — a viewership that rivals Brazil's 2023 World Cup group-stage games.
Perhaps even more impressive, Sunday's 3-2 extra-time loss to WSL side Arsenal also coincided with Corinthians' men's team's Brazil Super Cup battle, stressing the growing popularity of the club's women's squad.
"It doesn't matter if it's basketball or football, women's or men's, I'm a Corinthian supporter," a traveling Brazilian fan told The Athletic, with many news outlets reporting on the team's sizable fan support at the FIFA tournament in London last week.
Sunday's Champions Cup viewership also reflects the Brazil club's overall rising attendance, with the team featuring in every one of the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A1 league's five highest-attended matches — and winning the Top 4.
Claiming seven of the last eight league championships — including the last six straight trophies — Corinthians' 2024 title match against São Paulo saw 44,529 fans pack Neo Química Arena, netting the largest crowd at a women's club soccer match in South American history.
The fan clamor for Corinthians bodes well for another upcoming FIFA tournament, with Brazil preparing to host the first-ever World Cup in South America in 2027.
"Football is about love and Brazil loves football," said Brazilian soccer legend Marta in a video for a 2027 World Cup event just last month. "Our country is ready to embrace the women's game with pride, emotion and belief."
The 2025 NWSL Championship claimed a major viewership milestone on Saturday, as Gotham FC's 1-0 title win over the Washington Spirit became the first-ever league match to record an average of more than one million viewers.
The CBS evening broadcast averaged an impressive 1.184 million fans and peaked at 1.55 million viewers, making it the most-watched NWSL match of all time.
The 2025 final marked a 22% viewership increase over the 967,900 fans who watched 2024's Orlando Pride victory — the previous NWSL viewership record-holder — and a 45% ratings gain over Gotham's 2023 championship win, which averaged 816,800 viewers.
Saturday's gains both matched the 22% viewership increase the NWSL regular season saw this year and also far exceeded the 2025 postseason's pre-final year-over-year increase of 5%.
Calling the one-million viewer mark "an extraordinary achievement" in Tuesday's league statement, NWSL commissioner Jessica Berman also noted that the "record-setting audience demonstrates the deepening connection fans have with our players, our clubs, and the world-class competition on the field, and it underscores the growing demand for women's soccer on the biggest stages."
"We're incredibly proud of what this moment represents for the NWSL and for everyone who continues to invest in and believe in the future of our game," Berman added.
Despite a slight dip in attendance, the NWSL has continued to see steady gains from its TV audience this year, posting a league-wide 22% viewership growth during the 2025 regular season.
Prior to last Saturday's title game, the NWSL reported that postseason viewership had risen 5% from the 2024 Playoffs, when the Orlando Pride completed a league-double Shield and championship win.
Even more, ABC and ESPN platforms saw their largest percentage hike for NWSL regular-season matches in history, with the audience growing an impressive 61% year-over-year — though CBS still touts the league's highest viewership average at 479,000 fans tuning in per 2025 match.
Three of ABC/ESPN's top matchups featured the Washington Spirit, with the Portland Thorns also making two appearances in the Top-5 most-watched games of the 2025 season on the platform.
Additionally, CBS's 2025 semifinal between Washington and Portland drew 548,000 viewers while the other NWSL semifinal between Orlando and reigning champs Gotham FC averaged 328,000 viewers on ABC.
Broadcast partner ION, which carries the most linear games each NWSL season, also claimed a 5% increase in overall viewership from 2024.
Ultimately, the NWSL remains competitive with other North American soccer leagues in finding an audience on TV, with the league now aiming to retain its star power in order to encourage even more growth.
The broadcast reach of Athletes Unlimited got even stronger this week, as the pro women's sports organization scored a blockbuster media rights extension with ESPN on Wednesday, ensuring three more years of basketball, volleyball, and softball coverage.
"The growth we've seen across Athletes Unlimited's leagues speaks to the power and appeal of women's sports," said ESPN EVP of programming and acquisitions Rosalyn Durant. "We're excited to deepen our partnership and bring even more of these moments and athletes to fans everywhere."
As part of the extended partnership, ESPN will exclusively air 50 Athletes Unlimited Softball League (AUSL) games annually, including 47 regular-season matchups and the AUSL Championship Series, with the company's titan channel ABC also committed to airing the first-ever pro softball game on network television.
The broadcast giant already has a vested interest in softball's future, with the most recent Women's College World Series Finals delivering a record-high 2.2 million viewers across ESPN networks last June.
AU's basketball and volleyball footprints are also growing, with all 24 games from each competition's season now set to air live each year.
"This renewed and expanded partnership affirms the strength of our properties and reflects the growing enthusiasm for women's professional sports," said AU chief broadcast officer Cheri Kempf.