A record audience of 1.162 million viewers tuned in to watch former Wisconsin Badger Micah Potter see game action for USA Basketball earlier this week.
Maybe the entire audience didn’t tune in to see Potter specifically, but instead to watch USA Basketball’s Olympic exhibition match against Canada. Then Potter saw game action to close the contest and even hit a corner three-pointer.
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The Athletic’s Andrew Marchand shared the view count on Thursday afternoon. He also noted that it is the most-watched basketball game in Fox Sports 1 history. The total is more than any college basketball broadcast on the network — which are mostly Big Ten and Big East contests.
USA Basketball defeated Canada 86-72 in the Olympic warm-up on Wednesday. Minnesota Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards led the scoring with 13 points, while Steph Curry, Jrue Holiday and Anthony Davis added 12, 11 and 10 points respectively.
Potter joined the scoring with a late three-pointer. He was 1/2 from the field during the contest in only two minutes of action.
The United States' Men's Olympic team win over Canada drew 1.162M viewers, making it the most watched basketball game in FS1 history.
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— Andrew Marchand (@AndrewMarchand) July 11, 2024
Obviously, the record viewership number is mostly thanks to the starpower of LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Steph Curry, Devin Booker, Joel Embiid and others. It is not to watch former Badgers Potter and Nigel Hayes-Davis see action in garbage time.
Unsurprisingly, most fans had no idea who Potter was when he checked in. But at least there was a substantial audience to watch his on-court moment.
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