Indian Wells Men's Final Records Increased Viewership But Women's Final Declines

The 2024 Indian Wells Open came to its conclusion last Sunday, with two one-sided finals in both the men's and women's matches.

Sports Media Watch has compiled and shared viewership numbers from sporting events last weekend in the United States, including the two finals in the California desert.

Remarkably, the men's final was a rerun of the 2023 final, pitting Carlos Alcaraz and Daniil Medvedev. The women's final was a rematch of the 2022 final between World No. 1 Iga Swiatek and Maria Sakkari.

Alcaraz comfortably beat Daniil Medvedev 7-6, 6-1 to defend his crown. After a near eight-month drought, the Spaniard was back in the winner's circle, lifting his first title since Wimbledon.

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His semifinal victory over Jannik Sinner had secured the World no. 2 ranking, but he needed to overcome the hump that had put so much pressure on his shoulders to the point where onlookers felt he was sucked into a crisis. Alcaraz answered his critics in the best possible manner.

The women's final, played a few hours earlier on Sunday, saw Iga Swiatek also lift his second title in the desert. The impeccable Pole did not drop a set en route to the trophy and was simply too good for Sakkari in the final.

Alcaraz's victory over Medvedev was watched by almost half a million viewers in the USA on live television (487,000), an increase of about 39% from 12 months ago (351,000).

However, the disparity in the women's final was huge. Only 249,000 tuned in to watch Swiatek outclass Sakkari. That figure also represented a sharp decrease of about 24% from last year's final between Elena Rybakina and Aryna Sabalenka.

In spite of these differences in viewership, Indian Wells is one of the very few tournaments outside the Grand Slams that awards equal prize money for the ATP and WTA tours.

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