Football continues to win for ESPN, this time at the collegiate level, as the College Football Playoffs delivered its third-highest viewing audience ever.
According to data provided by Sports Business Journal, 27.2 million viewers tuned in to watch the Michigan Wolverines defeat the Alabama Crimson Tide in thrilling fashion across ESPN, ESPN2, and ESPNU. That number is the best since the very first CFP back in 2015. Pat McAfee’s ESPN2 Field Pass alone drew 1.4 million viewers, the best for any college football alternate broadcast on the network.
The 9 p.m. ET shootout between the Washington Huskies and Texas Longhorns drew 18.4 million viewers, which makes it the lowest-watched semifinal game ever and below what Michigan and Ohio State drew at the end of the regular season at 19.1 million viewers. However, it still outdrew last year’s national championship game between the Georgia Bulldogs and TCU Horned Frogs, which only had 17.5 million viewers. The game also ended at around 1 a.m. ET, which may have contributed to the decline in viewership.
The two games together averaged 22.6 million viewers, which is the best viewership total since 2017 and third-best all-time. 2017’s New Year’s Day matchups between Georgia and Oklahoma, and Alabama versus Clemson, drew a combined average of 24.6 million viewers. These figures were second only to the very first College Football Playoffs semifinals between Oregon/Florida State and Ohio State/Alabama, which drew a combined average of 28.2 million viewers back on New Year’s Day 2015.
