- NCAA Women’s Volleyball Tournament finished up 41% YoY
- Regular Season up 21% from 2023
The 2024 Women’s College Volleyball season on ESPN platforms was one for the books, as both the NCAA Tournament and the regular season finished up from a season ago.
The 2024 Women’s NCAA Volleyball Tournament was the most-consumed ever, with more than 1.3 billion minutes watched across ESPN platforms. The entirety of the NCAA Women’s Volleyball Tournament finished up 41% YoY and featured the most-watched Semifinals and Regionals on record.
The National Championship match between Louisville and Penn State saw 1.3 million viewers tune in, making it the second most-watched title bout on record and third most-watched college volleyball match ever. The champ game peaked with 1.9 million viewers as the Nittany Lions defeated the Cardinals in four sets.
The Championship tournament saw massive growth within adults 18-34, who increased their viewing 99% YoY. During this year’s championship run, women made up 44% of the audience, increasing their share from 2023.
The NCAA Women’s Volleyball Selection Show also saw its best performance on record, registering 268,000 viewers, up 59% from 2023.
National Semifinals
The NCAA Women’s Volleyball National Semifinals were the most-watched ever, averaging 1.1 million viewers across both matches. That mark shows 4% growth YoY and was 50% higher than any year prior to 2023.
The largest gains seen across the semifinals included adults 18-34 (+51% YoY) and women (+14% YoY), continuing the strong momentum seen from these groups during the Regional Rounds.
The second semifinal between Penn State and Nebraska led the way with 1.2 million viewers, ranking as the most-watched National Semifinal on record. It also earns the title of the fourth most-viewed women’s college volleyball match ever and peaked with 1.4 million viewers.
The Louisville-Pittsburgh semifinal averaged 1.0 million viewers and peaked with 1.4 million, ranking as the fourth most-watched semifinal on record.
Regional Round
The NCAA Women’s Volleyball Regional round averaged a tremendous 401,000 viewers, up 98% YoY for its highest average on record. The round also featured the five most-watched Regional matches ever, including an audience of 798,000 viewers for Regional Final of Wisconsin vs. Nebraska on ABC.
The Regionals saw huge growth in adults 18-34 (+232%), viewers 2-17 (+115%) and women (+112%).
The other top matches included:
- Creighton vs. Penn State on ESPN (Regional Final | 674,000 viewers)
- Dayton vs. Nebraska on ESPN2 (Regionals Semifinal | 617,000 viewers)
- Texas A&M vs. Wisconsin on ESPN2 (Regional Semifinal | 524,000 viewers)
- Stanford vs. Louisville on ESPN2 (Regional Final | 514,000 viewers)
The Regional Finals saw its best performance on record, averaging 594,000 viewers (+90%) across the two days. The Regional Semifinals boasted a 101% growth from 2023, averaging 311,000 viewers on ESPN2 – also registering the best average for this round on record.
ESPN+ viewership was up 19% YoY across the Regional Round to cap off the four days of competition.
First & Second Round
ESPN+ engagement saw an increase of 6% from 2023 during the First and Second Rounds of the NCAA Tournament.
Regular Season
ESPN scored the most-watched Women’s College Volleyball regular season ever (min. 5 live games), with 140,000 viewers. This was also the most-consumed women’s college volleyball season ever on ESPN Nets, totaling 635M minutes watched across the 38 matches on ABC, ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU.
The regular season finished up 21% YoY, including gains from P2-17 (+90%), P18-24 (+70%) and women (+28%).
This season also included the most-watched regular season match on record for ESPN platforms, with Nebraska-Louisville garnering 684,000 viewers on ABC on Sept. 22.
