TV Numbers: Women’s College World Series Ratings Set New Highs

So, despite Texas jumping out to early leads in both of the 2022 Women’s College World Series final games only to see Oklahoma explode for double digit runs in its 16-1 and 10-5 victories, the TV ratings on ESPN for the two blow-out victories must have have abysmal, huh?

Especially going up against NHL playoffs, the NBA finals, and other programming?

Not exactly.

Oklahoma’s 10-5 win over Texas in Game 2 of the WCWS drew 1.744 million viewers, according to ShowBuzzDaily.com. Overall, the championship series between the Sooners and Longhorns averaged 1.6 million viewers, tying it for the most-watched 2-game WCWS Championship Series ever. Wednesday’s Game 1 brought in 1.411 million viewers, a strong number considering the lopsided, historic blowout 16-1 win by Oklahoma.

In combined viewership, this year’s championship final came in slightly higher than 2019 (Oklahoma-UCLA) and slightly behind only 2009 (Florida-Washington).

Last year, the 2021 WCWS championship series, which went three games between Oklahoma and Florida State, turned in a 1.84 million average viewership per game.

In total, the 2022 Women’s College World Series averaged 1 million viewers per game, down from 2021’s historic numbers (which averaged 1.2 million/per) but marks the 3rd-consecutive WCWS that has hit the 1 million-mark in average viewership.

As part of the WCWS festivities, two games aired on ABC for the first time in the championship tournament’s history. Oklahoma’s win over Texas on Saturday – an unexpected preview of what would ultimately be the championship finals matchup – was watched by 1.25 million viewers, the most-watched winner’s bracket game in history. Sunday’s matchup between UCLA and Florida, an elimination game, brought in 1.064 million viewers.

Sunday night’s Texas/Arizona matchup on ESPN also turned in more than 1 million eyeballs, checking in a 1.03 million mark. Monday’s semifinal doubleheader between Texas and Oklahoma State also drew top-level numbers, with 1.304 million viewers for the first game between the teams and 1.256 million tuning in to the winner-take-all finale.