Wichita State Athletics
BOSTON, MA, Aug. 7, 2025 – The Basketball Tournament (TBT), which just completed its 12th annual event, announced that Sunday's $1 Million Championship Game on FOX set a TBT record for highest average television viewership. Over 444,000 watched the AfterShocks (Wichita State) defeat Eberlein Drive in a thrilling game held on Wichita State's campus. The audience for this year's championship grew 67% over last year's game on FOX.
"This year was an incredible year of growth for the event," said TBT founder and CEO Jon Mugar. "It's great to see college fanbases increasingly embrace TBT. Their energy makes our games special, adds to our high stakes model, and attracts broader basketball fans as well."
In addition to the record viewership, TBT set a championship game attendance record, as 9,029 fans packed Koch Arena. Despite students not being in session, it was Wichita State's biggest crowd for a basketball game in over three years. It was also the second-largest TBT attendance ever, behind last year's quarterfinals matchup between Kentucky alumni and Louisville alumni, which drew 13,506.
This year, TBT debuted a Home Court Advantage model, which saw host teams continue playing games on their home courts all the way through the championship game. It resulted in a record 85,395 fans attending the event, surpassing its own record in 2024. Since 2022, TBT has grown its annual attendance by over 136%.Streaming viewership was also up this year. TBT's 34 games on YouTube generated over 5.6 million impressions and were watched by 129% more unique viewers than in 2024.
For a recap of this year's record-breaking TBT, visit TBTHoops.com.