An unusual late-season non-conference showcase became a huge victory for ESPN and the sport of college basketball, as a February game between the Duke Blue Devils and Michigan Wolverines led the network to a record day.
Duke and Michigan met in Washington, D.C. for a neutral-site game, a rare occasion in the home stretch of the conference slate, preparing for March Madness. However, with both teams in the Top 5 and among the national championship favorites, the potential Final Four preview paid historic dividends.
At 4.3 million viewers, the Duke-Michigan clash was ESPN’s most-watched college basketball game in seven years. But that wasn’t all, another Top 5 showdown in the Big XII between the Arizona Wildcats and Houston Cougars averaged 2.4 million viewers.
With those two games leading a full slate of Saturday action, 1.9 billion minutes of college basketball were watched on ESPN airwaves, a record day for the network.
The huge audience for the Duke-Michigan game will likely lead to more games like it in the future. Even before these numbers came in, ESPN was exploring adding more premier non-conference games in the back half of the season to boost fan interest. A record day of viewership is certainly proof of concept.
The idea makes sense for a couple of reasons. Most of the top matchups between contenders take place very early in the season, at tournaments. However, by February, most of those games have been largely forgotten. By placing showcase games like this later in the season, it’s a great way to generate fan interest nationwide before March Madness begins. And it’s especially a great way to capture the attention of fans looking for something to do after football season ends.
Of course, if these games could be played on campus instead of neutral site venues, that would be even better.
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