$3.1M NIL-valued Caitlin Clark's Iowa breaks its own viewership record in 48 hours as Hawkeyes' West Virginia matchup draws 4.9M audience: Reports

The Caitlin Clark effect is in full swing as the guard makes her final March Madness appearance. Earlier on Selection Sunday, it was reported that the tickets for the Hawkeyes' first two rounds at Carver-Hawkeye Arena had sold out. And now, the $3.1M NIL-valued (per On3) star has set new records in the broadcast.

According to The Athletic's Senior women's basketball writer, Chantel Jennings, Iowa's first-round game against Holy Cross drew 3.23 million viewers on ABC, record numbers for a non-Final Four game. 48 hours later, the Hawkeyes broke the record with 4.9 million viewers for its second-round game against West Virginia

Since Caitlin Clark's joining in 2020, her star power has drawn millions of fans both at the arenas and on broadcast. Recently FOX Sports released its numbers and reported that the men's college basketball games saw a 16% increase averaging 346,000 viewers.

Meanwhile, the women's college basketball games drew an average of 436,000 viewers, a 66% jump from the previous year. Iowa's Mar. 5 tipoff against Ohio State had the most viewers, 338,800, as fans tuned in to witness Caitlin Clark become NCAA Division I basketball's all-time top scorer, male or female.

These numbers do not come close to the 9.9 million viewers that tuned into the 2023 NCAA final tournament on ABC, setting the record for the most watched women's college basketball game on the network.

Caitlin Clark and Iowa Hawkeyes embark on a tough road ahead

Caitlin Clark and her team have cruised past the first two rounds and will now prepare for their Sweet 16 tip-off against Colorado. What awaits them ahead is an uphill task.

For a potential Elite Eight match-up, the Iowa Hawkeyes could take on LSU Tigers if they beat UCLA on March 30. Considering both sides' history from last year, this will prove to be a high-intensity game. If Iowa wins, it could face the JuJu Watkins-led USC Trojans in the Final Four. The Trojans are on an incredible run this season and are not easy to defeat.

If the Hawkeyes manage to upset all these teams, their title game clash could be against South Carolina who will be out to draw blood after last year's Final Four loss.

This is Clark's final chance to help win Iowa's first NCAA Tournament championship. After she declares for the 2024 WNBA Draft, the guard will take her talents to the big league in May.