ABC to broadcast NCAA Women’s Basketball championship game in 2023 – CT Insider
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EMBARGOED UNTIL NCAA REPORT RELEASED – FILE – South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley celebrates with her team after a college basketball game in the final round of the Women’s Final Four NCAA tournament against UConn, Sunday, April 3, 2022, in Minneapolis. South Carolina won 64-49 to win the championship. The number of women competing at the highest level of college athletics continues to rise along with an increasing funding gap between men’s and women’s sports programs, according to an NCAA report examining the 50th anniversary of Title IX. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File)
Eric Gay / Associated Press
For the first time, ABC will broadcast the NCAA Division 1 Women’s Basketball Championship Game in 2023.
“Scheduling the Division I Women’s Basketball Championship on ABC has been a goal for quite some time in our ongoing efforts to maximize the exposure of women’s sports in collaboration with the NCAA,” Said ABC President of Programming and Original Content Burke Magnus said in a release. “Women’s NCAA Championships continue to generate strong audiences across ABC/ESPN networks and this move represents yet another unique opportunity to showcase this marquee event and the student-athletes who are competing for a national championship.”
The game will take place at American Airlines Center in Dallas on Sunday, April 2, 2023 at 3 p.m.
“It’s a benchmark announcement for women’s basketball in being able to showcase the national championship game in Dallas for an expanded audience on ABC for the first time in 2023,” said Beth Goetz, chair of the NCAA Divison I Women’s Basketball Committee and director of athletics at Ball State. “We are grateful to ABC/ESPN for the partnership in the continued growth of the game and championship.”
The 2022 Women’s Basketball Championship game on ESPN, which featured UConn vs. South Carolina, was the most-viewed women’s title game in nearly two decades with 4.85 million viewers. South Carolina beat UConn 64-49 to secure the program’s second national title in five years.
The 2023 Women’s Final Four semifinal matchups will still air on ESPN at 7 and 9:30 p.m. on Friday, March 31. The 2022 national semifinals averaged 2.7 million viewers and was the most-viewed semifinals in a decade.
The first time ABC aired NCAA Division I Women’s Tournament games was in 2021, which consisted of two first round matchups and four Sweet 16 games. The interest carried into the 2021-22 season when ABC added two regular season games on top of a number of tournament games.
Selection Sunday will also air on ESPN the NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Committee recently confirmed and will take place on March 12 at 8 p.m.