College Sports Success on ESPN Platforms in 2022-23
Last week’s record-setting NCAA Men’s College World Series in Omaha, Neb., officially marked the final college sports event of the 2022-23 academic year. Since last August, ESPN Platforms have aired 27,600 collegiate sports events – an average of more than 89 events per day over the past 10 months.
In all, ESPN presented a multitude of men’s and women’s sports from nearly 35 college conferences, as well as 31 NCAA Championship events and 30-plus owned and operated events, across ESPN linear networks and digital platforms, including more events than ever on ESPN+. Below is a snapshot of some of the sport-by-sport ESPN highlights from the year in college sports.
27,600
College sports events aired across ESPN Platforms in 2022-23
On average 89 events Every. Single. Day.
Volleyball
Most-watched regular season in a decade
Second most-viewed NCAA semifinals on record on ESPN Platforms
Men's Ice Hockey
Most-viewed since 2011
NCAA Tournament, Frozen Four, Championship Game – Detail
Wrestling
NCAA Championships growth on ESPN+ vs. ESPN3 last year
Gymnastics
Most-watched live NCAA Gymnastics telecast ever
2023 NCAA Championship Final on ABC – Detail
Men's Basketball
Most-viewed season since 2018-19
57 regular season games with at least 1M viewers – Detail
Women's Basketball
National Championship Game on ABC
ESPN’s most-viewed college basketball game (men or women) on record with 9.9M viewers – Detail
Regular Season
Most-viewed on ESPN platforms since 2014-15
Men's Lacrosse
Most-watched NCAA Lacrosse Championship game since 2007
Softball
WCWS Championship Series averaged 1.6M viewers
Viewership for entire WCWS was +2% vs 2022 – Detail
Baseball
Most-watched Men’s College World Series and Championship Series on record for ESPN
Game 3 of Final series is the most-watched college baseball game on record – Detail
ESPN Events
Contributed 360 live content hours across ESPN platforms – 17 bowl games, 90 basketball games, four college football games, and 40 softball games
ESPN Events’ 17 bowl games averaged 1.8M viewers
College Networks
Delivered double-digit linear growth, while SEC Network+ posted double-digit gains in streaming metrics
Nearly 1,500 hours of original programming this academic year
Football, and men’s and women’s basketball all grew double-digits
Nearly 2,000 hours of live event, studio and original programming