The broadcast rights for Southeastern Conference football were granted to The Walt Disney Company under a 10-year deal reportedly worth a collective $3 billion starting in the 2024 season. On Saturday, the SEC on ABC broadcast property made its official debut within a tripleheader of games that averaged 7.6 million viewers, resulting in the second most-watched kickoff Saturday on record for the network. The matchup between Notre Dame and Texas A&M in prime time finished with 8.2 million viewers on the night, the most-watched Saturday Night Football game on ABC since 2022, according to viewership data from Nielsen Media Research and Adobe/Conviva Streaming.
In that year, the game between Notre Dame and Ohio State drew 10.53 million average viewers and finished with a thrilling come-from-behind victory for the Buckeyes. This season’s opening matchup in prime time drew more than double the game between North Carolina and South Carolina last year, according to Jon Lewis of Sports Media Watch. Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit and Holly Rowe called the matchup on ABC that also streamed live on ESPN+.
Coverage on ABC began with Georgia defeating Clemson by a final score of 34-3, marking the most-watched 12 p.m. EST game on the opening Saturday. The game averaged 7.9 million viewers on the network, and it also secured a larger peak audience of 9.5 million than the aforementioned prime-time tilt (9.3 million) between Notre Dame and Texas A&M. The Aflac Kickoff on ABC took place from Atlanta, Ga. and featured Sean McDonough, Greg McElroy and Molly McGrath on the broadcast.
The late-afternoon window featured Miami visiting Florida on ABC and ESPN+ with a commentary team of Joe Tessitore, Jesse Palmer and Katie George. As the SEC on ABC made its official debut during this window, the network introduced revamped theme music, distinctive graphics and other presentation elements. The interstate matchup drew an average of 6.6 million viewers, making it the most-watched Week 1 game in this window since Michigan-Florida in 2017. Although the SEC on CBS season openers aired in Week 3 over the last two seasons, this game surpassed the average viewership for those matchups on that broadcast property.
