Thursday's slate of first round men's NCAA tournament games didn't produce many massive upsets. But people still tuned in.
According to the NCAA, the 16 games played on Thursday were the most-watched games of any opening day in tournament history. The four game windows across CBS, TBS, TNT and TruTV averaged 9.1 million viewers.
CBS Sports and TNT Sports Deliver the Most-Watched NCAA Tournament First Round Opening Day Ever pic.twitter.com/RrwWYyqCPC
— March Madness Men’s Basketball TV (@MM_MBB_TV) March 21, 2025
The most-watched game came Thursday evening as Arkansas took down Kansas in a matchup of national championship coaches in John Calipari and Bill Self. The games played Thursday evening averaged over 12 million viewers.
Arkansas’ win over the Jayhawks set up a matchup on Saturday with St. John’s. The Red Storm are coached by Rick Pitino and it’ll be the fifth NCAA tournament game between Pitino and Calipari.
The big viewership numbers on Thursday come after Texas’ loss to Xavier in the First Four on Wednesday was the most-watched First Four game ever. The game had 2.4 million viewers as the Musketeers came back to beat the Longhorns in the second half.
The large audience is proof that viewers aren’t refusing to watch college sports as the athletes are now able to transfer freely and profit off their own image rights. There’s been a lot of consternation about the state of college athletics in the NIL and transfer portal era, and while there do need to be some common-sense reforms made across college sports, the evolving landscape isn’t driving viewers away.
Thursday's numbers also may bode well for the potential ratings for the men's national title game on April 6. The NCAA has moved the start of the game up to 8:30 p.m. ET after years of a traditional start after 9 p.m.
