NCAA Final Four Set Following Mixed Viewership Trends in Elite Eight

Men's tournament faces declines from Easter-boosted 2024, while women's games show growth over historical averages despite sharp drops from last year's records.

The NCAA men's basketball Elite Eight viewership fell 10% from last year, with Sunday games experiencing significant declines due to the absence of Easter Sunday out-of-home boosts.
Sunday's Houston-Tennessee game drew 7.1 million viewers, down 32%, while Auburn-Michigan State drew 11.7 million, down 23% compared to 2024's Easter-inflated numbers.
Saturday's Elite Eight games performed better, with Duke-Alabama up 26% and Florida-Texas Tech up 16% year-over-year, highlighting Duke's strong audience pull.
The women's tournament's regional finals averaged 2.9 million viewers, over 50% below 2024's record highs but still the second-highest on record and up 34% from two years ago.
UCLA-LSU drew 3.4 million viewers, marking the third-largest women's Elite Eight audience ever, with the women's tournament averaging 967,000 viewers per game, up 47% from 2023.