South Carolina-Iowa draws 18.7M viewers

South Carolina’s victory over Caitlin Clark and Iowa in the women’s NCAA championship game had a preliminary audience average of 18.7 million on ABC and ESPN. The only sporting events in the United States to draw a bigger TV audience since 2019 have been football, the World Cup and the Olympics. The audience numbers are expected to increase when Nielsen releases its final numbers on April 9. Nielsen says the audience peaked at 24 million. It’s the most-watched basketball game since 2019, when the men’s NCAA title game between Virginia and Texas Tech averaged 19.6 million on CBS.

REPORTS: CALIPARI TO ARKANSAS >>

Longtime Kentucky coach John Calipari was in negotiations to potentially leave and take the men’s basketball coaching job at Arkansas, multiple outlets reported late April 7. Arkansas officials have been in discussions with Calipari about the opening, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported, citing anonymous sources

MLB STUDY: NINE TEAMS CUT SALARY >>

San Diego cut payroll by $96 million in the past year, the Mets by $50 million and the Angels by $49 million, among nine teams that slashed spending in a tepid free-agent market that sparked player unrest. Other teams cutting were the Chicago White Sox (by $47 million), Colorado ($33 million), Minnesota ($32 million), Detroit ($20 million), Boston ($15 million) and Milwaukee ($12 million). The average salary increased 1.5% to $4.98 million on opening day, according to a study by The Associated Press.

NBA

KNICKS FINED >> The NBA has fined the New York Knicks $25,000 after Mitchell Robinson was listed as out on an initial injury report and then played in a game against Toronto.

YOUNG CAN PRACTICE >>

Hawks All-Star guard Trae Young, who has missed 22 games since suffering a torn ligament in his left fifth finger, is moving closer to his return to action.