As US college basketball’s annual ‘March Madness’ NCAA National Championship tournament begins, it has been revealed that viewership across the 2025-26 regular season increased by a double-digit percentage year-on-year.
Nationally broadcast college basketball telecasts across conferences averaged 433,000 viewers per game, up 19% on the equivalent games in the 2024-25 season.
A trio of highly touted players; AJ Dybantsa of BYU, Duke’s Cameron Boozer, and and Kansas’ Darryn Peterson – all of whom are hotly tipped to be selected in the top three of the upcoming NBA Draft – have helped to create significant interest in this college campaign.
Indeed, the most-watched game of the season involved Boozer’s Duke facing Arkansas, with 6.81 million tuning in on national network CBS, with the added boon of the game taking place on the Thanksgiving holiday only boosting the figure.
The second most-watched game took place later that same day, with Michigan State facing North Carolina on the Fox network drawing 6.51 million.
While both these games benefited heavily from Thanksgiving Day NFL lead-ins (which this year represented the most-watched NFL regular season games ever), the figures nonetheless highlight the growing wider interest in collegiate sports.
CBS averaged 1.59 million (up 17%) across the campaign, with Fox’s figure lower at 1.22 million, but representing a greater increase of 38%, standing at Fox’s most-watched college basketball season ever.
Disney-owned ESPN and sister network ABC also performed well across the year. ESPN’s primary linear network generated 1.15 million (+10%) per game, and its wider supporting networks collectively averaged 467,000 (+22%) across the season, with the five-game slate on general entertainment network ABC drawing 1.7 million (+25%) per game.
Meanwhile, the basketball-focused Atlantic 10 conference has announced the appointment of Dan Leibovitz as its new commissioner, replacing the retiring Bernadette McGlade.
McGlade was appointed to the role of commissioner in 2008, and her tenure saw basketball-centric conference realignment, and two major media rights deals (2012 and 2023) with concurrent rights fee increases.
Leibovitz, a former basketball coach, joins from the rival Big East conference, where he had been senior associate commissioner, having previously been the Southeastern Conference’s associate commissioner for men’s basketball between 2016 and 2023.
Prominent basketball schools in the Atlantic 10 conference include this year’s conference champion VCU, St. Louis (who will enter the NCAA National Championship tournament alongside VCU), nine-time conference champion Temple, and five-time conference champion Massachusetts.
Leibovits himself commented on the new role, saying: “With its proud tradition, national success, and more than 50 years of memorable basketball history, the Atlantic 10 stands as one of the premier conferences in college athletics.”
The executive search committee was led by Eric F. Spina, president of member school Dayton, who added: “Dan is a basketball guy through and through, with experience at every level in almost every role, and is a proven innovator.
"He has deep respect for what athletics can mean for student-athletes, their schools, and society, and he firmly believes that every athlete in every sport deserves a meaningful, high-quality experience.
VCU began its March Madness campaign with an upset comeback win over much-fancied North Carolina, while St. Louis thrashed Georgia, meaning both will advance to the second round, where VCU will again be the underdogs against Illinois, as will St. Louis, which will face top-seeded Michigan.
