Sunday’s American Championship game between the UConn Huskies and the Memphis Tigers at the Amway Center garnered 1.532 million viewers on ESPN according to SportsTVRatings.com.
The number is slightly down from last year’s American Championship game between the Huskies and the SMU Mustangs which had 1.6 million viewers. The 2014 American Championship game between the Louisville Cardinals and UConn had 1.7 million viewers according to SportsMediaWatch.com.
It is worth keeping in mind the American Championship game the last two years went head to head against the Big Ten title game which airs on CBS. Still the American ranked as the fifth-most viewed conference championship game and had more viewers than power-5 conference Pac-12 and more viewers then the Big East despite the fact the Big East aired on FOX television.
Here is a list of the television viewers for conference championship games, numbers that were down across the board:
Big Ten Title game: Michigan State vs Purdue — 3.1 million estimated on CBS
SEC Title game: Kentucky vs Texas A&M — 2.893 million on ESPN
ACC Title game: North Carolina vs Virginia — 2.813 million on ESPN
Big 12 Title game: Kansas vs West Virginia — 2.42 million on ESPN
American Title game: UConn vs Memphis — 1.532 million on ESPN
Big East Title game: Villanova vs Seton Hall — 1.3 million on FOX
Pac-12 Title game: Oregon vs Utah — 388,000 on FS1
On Saturday’s semifinals, UConn’s win over the Temple Owls on ESPN2 garnered 589,000 viewers which was the fifth highest rated college basketball game on cable on Saturday. The second semifinal game between Memphis and the Tulane Green Wave garnered 233,000 viewers on ESPN2.
The Connecticuit-Cincinnati 4-OT classic on Friday at the Amway Center, drew 576,000 viewers on ESPN2 was easily the most viewed American Conference Quarterfinal game on Friday according to SportsTVRatings.com.
Here is a breakdown of how the American Quarterfinal games from the Amway Center drew on TV. Note first round games of the American that aired on ESPNews were not made available. The Huskes were involved in the three most viewed games of the tournament.
American Championship Game on ESPN (Sunday)
UConn vs Memphis 1.532 million
American Conference Semifinal on ESPN2 (Saturday)
UConn vs Temple 589K
Memphis vs Tulane 233K
American Conference Quarterfinal on ESPN2 & ESPNU (Friday)
UConn vs Cincinnati on ESPN 2 – 576,000
South Florida vs Temple on ESPN 2 – 175,000
Memphis vs Tulsa on ESPNU – 96,000
Tulane vs Houston on ESPNU – 58,000
One thing is clear is that UConn is the TV draw of the American Conference when it comes to basketball and is the main identity and strength of the conference. The Huskies also packed the Amway Center attendance-wise.
It is the biggest property Mike Aresco and the American has, and it is one of the reasons why UConn is at the top of list for expansion if the Big 12 decides to expand to 12 teams.
