Aced it! ESPN scored most-watched 2025 NCAA Women’s College Volleyball season on record

• NCAA Women’s Volleyball Tournament up 13% year over year
• First and Second Round engagement on ESPN+ up 33% YoY
• Record regular season viewership – up 36% from 2024

The 2025 Women’s College Volleyball season on ESPN networks was one for the books, as both the NCAA Tournament and the regular season delivered records and grew viewership from last season.

The 2025 Women’s NCAA Volleyball Tournament was the most-consumed ever, with more than 1.3 billion minutes watched across ESPN platforms. The entirety of the NCAA Women’s Volleyball Tournament finished up 13% year over year, averaging 666,000 viewers across the 15 matches and featured the most-watched Regionals on record. The ’25 volleyball tournament also featured a record-high four matches that averaged at least one million viewers.

The National Championship match between Texas A&M and Kentucky saw 1.4 million viewers tune in, making it the second most-watched title bout on record and third most-watched college volleyball match ever. The champ game peaked with 1.7 million viewers as the Aggies defeated the Wildcats in straight sets.

The Championship tournament experienced massive growth among adults 25-34, with viewership spiking 83% year over year and among people 2-17, which jumped 40% from 2024. During this year’s championship run, women comprised 45% of the audience, increasing their share from the prior year.

National Semifinals
The NCAA Women’s Volleyball National Semifinals averaged 1.1 million viewers across both matches. Each match hit one million viewers for a third consecutive year.

The second semifinal between Wisconsin and Kentucky led the way with 1.1 million viewers, peaking with 1.2 million. That marks the second most-watched semifinal on record. The Texas A&M-Pittsburgh semifinal averaged 1.0 million viewers and also peaked with 1.2 million, ranking as the fifth most-watched semifinal on record. 

Regional Round
The NCAA Women’s Volleyball Regional round averaged a tremendous 530,000 viewers, up 32% year over year for its highest average ever. The round also featured four of the six most-watched Regional matches ever. The Regionals saw huge demo growth among P25-34 (+147%), P2-17 (+89%) and women (+39%).

The top match of the Regional round was the thrilling five-setter between Texas A&M and Nebraska, which averaged 1.2 million viewers — with a 1.6 million viewer peak, making this the most-watched NCAA Regional ever.

Other top matches included:

• Kansas vs. Nebraska on ESPN2 (Regional Semifinal | 718,000 viewers)
• Texas A&M vs. Louisville on ESPN2 (Regional Semifinal | 674,000 viewers)
• Wisconsin vs. Texas on ESPN (Regional Final | 663,000 viewers)
• Purdue vs. Pittsburgh on ESPN2 (Regional Final | 468,000 viewers)

The Regional Finals saw its best performance on record, averaging 753,000 viewers (+27%) across the two days. The Regional Semifinals boasted 29% growth from 2024, averaging 402,000 viewers on ESPN/ESPN2 – also registering the best average for this round on record.

First & Second Round
ESPN+ engagement increased 33% over 2024 during the First and Second Rounds of the NCAA Tournament. The Fifth Set whip-around coverage averaged 183,000 viewers across its ESPN2 telecasts, up 60% year over year.

Regular Season
ABC/ESPN/ESPN2 combined to air a record 33 women’s college volleyball matches during the 2025 season – more than any previous year as the sport’s popularity continues to skyrocket. This resulted in

ESPN’s most-watched women’s college volleyball regular season ever, averaging 190,000 viewers and finishing up 36% year over year, including gains among P18-34 (+59%) and women (+41%).

This season, ESPN aired three of its five most-watched telecasts ever, including its largest regular season audience for Nebraska-Kentucky (1.2M viewers | Aug. 31 on ABC). The AVCA First Serve also delivered ESPN’s top two regular season matches on Aug. 24. Stanford-Nebraska drew 596,000 viewers, while Florida-Pitt scored 525,000 viewers.

By: Katie Callahan