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[03/11/26 - 11:30 AM]
ESPN Delivers Most-Watched Women's College Basketball Regular Season Since 2008-09
ESPN networks were home to six of the top 10 women's college basketball regular season games across all networks this season and 29 of the top 30 on cable.
[via press release from ESPN]

ESPN delivers most-watched women's college basketball regular season since 2008-09

· Up 19% over 2024-25 historic season, the previous high since '08-'09

· ESPN's most-consumed regular season ever with 3.6 billion total live minutes

· Across ESPN networks, 20 games delivered more than 500,000 viewers - the most on record

ESPN networks delivered its most-watched women's college basketball regular season since 2008-09. Viewership for the 2025-26 campaign finished 19% above the already historic (and previous best) 2024-25 regular season with the 89 women's games across ESPN networks averaging 333,000 viewers.

The '25-26 campaign also served as the most-consumed season on record for ESPN networks with more than 3.6 billion total minutes watched of live women's college basketball games. The network family accounted for more than half of total game minutes watched across the sport this season.

ESPN networks were home to six of the top 10 women's college basketball regular season games across all networks this season and 29 of the top 30 on cable.

ESPN had a record number of regular season games eclipse the 1.0 million mark with four, led by Valentine's Day ABC primetime matchup between No. 3 South Carolina and No. 6 LSU (1.7 million). In addition, ESPN networks delivered 20 games with more than 500,000 viewers during the regular season - the most on record in a single season. The previous high of 15 came a season ago.

ABC and ESPN had a combined 42 games on their networks this season, the most ever between the two. Additionally, ABC featured the first ever women's basketball game in Saturday primetime with the Gamecocks-Tigers showcase on Feb. 14.

2025-26 Top Regular Season Women's College Basketball Games Across ESPN Networks:

Date Time Platform Game Viewers

Feb 14 8:40 p.m. ABC No. 3 South Carolina at No. 6 LSU 1.7 million

Feb 8 3 p.m. ABC No. 19 Tennessee at No. 3 South Carolina 1.5 million

Feb 1 3 p.m. ABC No. 10 Oklahoma at No. 4 Texas 1.1 million

Dec 10 7 p.m. ESPN No. 11 Iowa vs. No. 10 Iowa State 1.0 million

Feb 15 3 p.m. ABC No. 4 Texas at No. 22 Tennessee 919,000

*Rankings reflected for the date of the game

The Valentine's Day matchup between South Carolina and LSU finished as the top game across all networks this season with its 1.7 million viewers. The game peaked with 2.2 million viewers, making it ESPN's second-most watched regular season game since 2010. The Women's College GameDay Covered by State Farm show from Baton Rouge delivered 1.2 million viewers, marking the best regular season episode on record.

The women's basketball season continues with Champ Week Presented by Principal, culminating in Sunday's NCAA Women's Selection Special Presented by Capital One at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN. ESPN networks will exclusively present the NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament for the 31st year - from the tip of the First Four until the final piece of the National Championship net is cut on April 5 in Phoenix, Ariz.

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