So, despite Texas jumping out to early leads in both of the 2022 Women’s College World Series final games only to see Oklahoma explode for double digit runs in its 16-1 and 10-5 victories, the TV ratings on ESPN for the two blow-out victories must have have abysmal, huh?

Especially going up against NHL playoffs, the NBA finals, and other programming?

Not exactly.

Oklahoma’s 10-5 win over Texas in Game 2 of the WCWS drew 1.744 million viewers, according to ShowBuzzDaily.com. Overall, the championship series between the Sooners and Longhorns averaged 1.6 million viewers, tying it for the most-watched 2-game WCWS Championship Series ever. Wednesday’s Game 1 brought in 1.411 million viewers, a strong number considering the lopsided, historic blowout 16-1 win by Oklahoma.

In combined viewership, this year’s championship final came in slightly higher than 2019 (Oklahoma-UCLA) and slightly behind only 2009 (Florida-Washington).

Last year, the 2021 WCWS championship series, which went three games between Oklahoma and Florida State, turned in a 1.84 million average viewership per game.

In total, the 2022 Women’s College World Series averaged 1 million viewers per game, down from 2021’s historic numbers (which averaged 1.2 million/per) but marks the 3rd-consecutive WCWS that has hit the 1 million-mark in average viewership.

As part of the WCWS festivities, two games aired on ABC for the first time in the championship tournament’s history. Oklahoma’s win over Texas on Saturday – an unexpected preview of what would ultimately be the championship finals matchup – was watched by 1.25 million viewers, the most-watched winner’s bracket game in history. Sunday’s matchup between UCLA and Florida, an elimination game, brought in 1.064 million viewers.

Sunday night’s Texas/Arizona matchup on ESPN also turned in more than 1 million eyeballs, checking in a 1.03 million mark. Monday’s semifinal doubleheader between Texas and Oklahoma State also drew top-level numbers, with 1.304 million viewers for the first game between the teams and 1.256 million tuning in to the winner-take-all finale.