Ratings Roundup: Womens College Basketball Tournament Claims Highest Viewership in College Basketball History

Pro League Network announced the rapid growth of one of its marquee sports properties, CarJitsu Championship, today. The viral sport gained traction early this year, partly due to the uniqueness of the sport in which two fighters compete within the confines of a car.

Built from scratch, the sport garnered 18 million impressions on social media in 2023, and caught the internet’s eye, including Kevin Hart & Kenan Thompson, MMA legend Jon Jones, ESPN, Bleacher Report, Playmaker and many more. After its first live fight card this year, CarJitsu exploded with more than 13 million views and 12 million impressions in the days following the event. The sport’s Instagram account more than doubled its followers in just one week, further proving its staying power.

“CarJitsu is exactly what the new sports fan wants to consume, and we developed it with social engagement in mind,” says PLN co-founder, Mike Salvaris. “At its core, it is a ridiculous sport, but we give it a professional treatment with athletes in uniforms, play-by-play and color commentators, and a high-quality stream. Carjitsu is a low-cost, digital operation, that has caught the eyes of millions of sports fans and will continue to do so.”

CarJitsu will hold its next live competition on April 5, continuing a once-per-month cadence until September 2024, when PLN plans to put on two events per month through the end of the year.

“CarJitsu’s rapid growth proves that our formula for growing new sports at PLN is successful,” says PLN co-founder Bill Yucatonis. “We choose eye-catching and engaging sports, and build them up with resources and elite level audio and visual production. Through our work and further development of Carjitsu, we are setting a new standard of engagement in streamed sports.”

PLN recently released its 2024 schedule, which includes increased competitions in its core brands CarJitsu Championship, World Putting League and SlapFIGHT Championship. Additionally, PLN will debut str33t in 2024, its much-anticipated 3×3 streetball league produced in partnership with NBA Hall of Famer Kevin Garnett and his Big Ticket Sports venture firm.

It’s Elite! ESPN Delivers Record Performance in Women’s NCAA Elite Eight

• Elite 8 averaged 6.2 million viewers making it the most-watched Elite 8 on record, up 184% YoY
• Four of the five most-watched Elite 8 games on record
  • LSU vs Iowa
    • 12.3 million viewers on ESPN
    • Most-watched college basketball game on ESPN platforms
    • Peaked at 16.1 million viewers
    • ESPN’s second-highest audience for any basketball game since 2012
  • UConn vs USC
    • 6.7 million viewers on ESPN
  • South Carolina vs Oregon State
    • 3.1 million viewers on ABC
  • NC State vs UT Austin
    • 2.5 million viewers on ABC

LSU-Iowa on ESPN is Most-Watched Women’s College Basketball Game on Record

• NCAA Women’s Elite Eight matchup delivers 12.3 million viewers
• Most-viewed college basketball game ever on ESPN platforms

ESPN Scores Most-Watched NCAA Women’s Sweet 16 on Record to Continue Championship Momentum

• 2024 NCAA Division I Women’s Championship is averaging 1.1 million viewers through this point, up 104% year-over-year
• Through the Sweet 16, the NCAA Division I Women’s Tournament has amassed 6.7 billion total minutes – a record high
• Four of the five most-viewed Sweet 16 games on record
• CU Boulder vs Iowa
  • 6.9 million viewers on ABC
  • Second most watched WCBB game since 1995
• UCLA vs LSU
  • 3.8 million viewers on ABC
  • Second-best sweet 16 audience on record
• Indiana vs South Carolina
  • 2.1 million viewers on ESPN
• Duke vs UConn
  • 2.0 million viewers on ESPN

Viewership for ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball Season-Opener Up 17 Percent From Last Year

Viewership for ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball – Major League Baseball’s marquee national game of the week – started up 17 percent from last year, according to Nielsen. The St. Louis Cardinals vs. Los Angeles Dodgers game averaged 1,821,000 viewers on March 31, peaking with 2,360,000 viewers at 9:45 p.m. ET.

In addition, viewership in the key People 18-49 demographic was also up 17 percent from last season’s Sunday Night Baseball season-opener.

On deck: the defending World Series Champion Texas Rangers host the Houston Astros on April 7, at 7 p.m. ET.

NBC Sports’ presentation of the crucial top-of-the-table Manchester City v. Arsenal match on Sunday, March 31, is the most-watched Premier League match in United States history, with 2.12 million viewers across NBC, Peacock, and NBC Sports Digital platforms and is the first English-language match to surpass two million viewers.

Five of the six most-watched English-language Premier League matches in U.S. history have aired across NBC Sports platforms in the 2023-24 Premier League season.