The record has officially been broken! Before becoming a part of the Indiana Fever, Caitlin Clark and the Iowa Hawkeyes battled the undefeated South Carolina in the National Championship game. The women’s NCAA Final drew a larger audience and recorded an average of 18.9 million viewers. However, that mark has now been surpassed by the US men’s national team tussle against France in the Gold Medal game.

Courtesy of Stephen Curry, whose magical display in the last minutes of the game stole the show by leading the USA to its 5th consecutive gold, shot the ratings up to 19.6 million viewers. As a result, this game has now surpassed the 2024 Women’s National Championship game as the most-viewed basketball game since 2016. The same has been featured in a post shared on X, with pictures of Caitlin Clark and Stephen Curry placed alongside and captioned, “Most viewed basketball games since 2016: Iowa vs South Carolina: 18.9 million viewers USA vs France: 19.6 million viewers.”

Why since 2016 though? That’s because the 2016 NBA Finals Game 7 between the Golden State Warriors and the Cleveland Cavaliers drew more than 30 million viewers! Nonetheless, setting a record for a span of 8 years is no easy feat.

The U.S. men’s team clinched a thrilling 98-87 victory over France, combining 19.6 million views on NBC and Peacock. Stephen Curry drove a rescue mission in the last 2 minutes of the game and made four straight shots from beyond the arc, finishing the game with 24 points (two points shy of Victor Wembenyama’s game-high score), and 8-for-13 shooting from the 3-point line.

Besides, Stephen Curry and LeBron James have been named to the FIBA Olympics All-Star Five for the 2024 Olympic Games men’s basketball tournament. Averaging 14.2 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 8.5 assists in 6 games, James was named the Paris 2024 men’s basketball MVP. Although the two games are being compared in viewership, it also calls for a comparison they hold with the previous ones.

Caitlin Clark and Stephen Curry continue to be box-office draws

Caitlin Clark’s national championship game peaked at 24.1 million in the final 15 minutes. Hence, it was the second most-watched non-Olympic women’s sports event on TV trailing behind the 2015 Women’s World Cup final between the U.S. and Japan, which drew a peak audience of 25.4 million..

As a rising tide, Caitlin Clark was the focal point of this pivotal change as she broke back-to-back records in her senior season at Iowa. Hence, the growth became visible in all aspects, including attendance records, viewership, and social media engagement that surrounded the March Madness.

On the other hand, the U.S. men’s basketball gold medal game saw a massive leap from the final in Rio and Tokyo, which drew 11.7 million and 9.3 million viewers, respectively. Moreover, the game was recorded as the most-watched gold medal game since the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games.

In addition, the USA-France face-off turned out to be the most-streamed sports event in the Paris Olympics across NBCU digital properties, as it drew 2.7 million viewers per minute on average. The numbers truly reflect how these revolutionary athletes are bringing astronomical changes in the dynamics of the game, making everyone fall in love with it!

Stay tuned for more such updates and join us for the exciting second episode of the “Dual Threat Show” as our host BG12 sits down with Georgia Bulldogs star and Mountain West All-Freshman Team Selection, Asia Avinger