TV Ratings for CFP Announced

[HDuck]

ESPN announced Wednesday that the Buckeyes' second national championship in the CFP era averaged 22.1 million viewers. It was the most-watched, non-NFL sporting event over the past year, but

a 12% drop from the 25 million who tuned in for Michigan's 34-13 victory over Washington in 2024.

 

22.1 million was the third-lowest audience of the 11 CFP title games, with all three occurring in the past five years. The audience peaked at 26.1 million viewers during the second quarter (8:30 to 8:45 p.m. ET) when the score was tied at 7.

 

22.1M - Ohio State vs Notre Dame final

21.1M - Ohio State vs Oregon quarterfinal

20.6M - Ohio State vs Texas semifinal

17.8M - Notre Dame vs Penn State semifinal

 

Top of CFP/BCS Final History

35.6M - ABC - 2006 - Texas vs USC

34.1M - ESPN - 2015 - Ohio St vs Oregon

30.8M - ABC - 2010 - Alabama vs Texas

29.1M - ABC - 2003 - Ohio St vs Miami

28.8M - Fox - 2007 - Florida vs Ohio St

28.4M - ESPN - 2018 - Alabama vs Georgia

27.3M - ESPN - 2011 - Auburn vs Oregon

 

22.1M - ESPN -2025 - would be third lowest of the 11 CFP games.  Georgia vs TCU was lowest.

 

Notre Dame and Ohio State two huge brands.  What happened?   Monday game?  Both teams from Midwest rather than cross-sectional?

[Charles Fischer]

Well, there was another major national event that day whose coverage could have pulled people away in the evening?

 

[Jon Joseph]

MICHIGAN WINS AGAIN! I'm shocked that the Wolverines want to rub it in.

 

 

Michigan-Washington National Championship had higher ratings than Ohio State-Notre Dame

WWW.MAIZENBREW.COM

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The television ratings are in for the Ohio State-Notre Dame National Championship and the numbers are down compared to the Michigan-Washington National Championship last season.

 

Charles is spot on; the CFB champ game was not the most important thing on that day's agenda, at least for those not addicted to CFB + OBD, like me. 

 

Many good ideas have surfaced on OBD that would have the season begin earlier and the playoff end earlier. When Ohio State and Notre Dame do not bring in the expected viewer numbers the people in charge should notice. However rapid change in CFB happens due to legislatures and courts; not from in-fighting conferences and certainly not from the NCAA.

 

The B1G and the SEC are taking over the management of CFB and while I have concerns about further consolidation of CFB I think it is inevitable. I'd rather have the Power 2 managing the CFB post-season than a biased media company.

[Jon Joseph]

 

Cause for Concern? No doubt. But will anything be done about it? I don't see anything significant happening in 2025 when a change requires a unanimous vote.

 

 

Declining TV ratings for College Football Playoff National Title should be reason for concern

SATURDAYBLITZ.COM

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The College Football Playoff (CFP) National Championship has long been a marquee event in the sports world, drawing millions of viewers each year. This year's c

 

It has been reported on various sites that come 2026 the Power 2 will push for a 14-team field, a 1st round bye for the top two ranked teams, and home games through the quarter-finals, four automatic bids for the B1G and the SEC top, two for the ACC and two for the B12, one for the G5/6, and one at-large; A/K/A the Notre Dame automatic bid.

 

The hoi polloi are of course outraged at the GREED  of the Power 2. However, this is not March Madness and not CBB where schools can play multiple games in a short time. Like it or not, the football games that bring in the viewers are games featuring a B1G or SEC team, Notre Dame, and CU if Prime is in Boulder. 

 

CFB has been monetized and like in any business the movers and shakers will call the shots.

 

[HDuck]

Festivities for Martin Luther King Day and the Inauguration were largely over by kickoff.  My opinion, I kinda doubt they would have pulled fans who like to watch college football.   I just didn't expect it, and the hoopla by ESPN prior to the game was anticipation of a "ratings buster."

 

I mean, what are the top "brands?"   Ohio State TV viewership stats over the years seems to lead the whole country when they are half of the matchup.  Notre Dame, Alabama, Texas, USC, Michigan (maybe) most years.

 

I just thought those two...albeit ESPN family cable/satellite networks...rather than ABC would not be third from bottom of the 11 CFP games?   That number didn't include "streaming" but doubt it will edge up much.

 

My theory about it not being "intersectional" drawing nation-wide fans seems undercut by the numbers in this link.  Could it be that no SEC area team was involved?   Maybe, but looking at the numbers in the link and rearranging them by date order that may not hold water either.

 

Would it impact Notre Dame's value as a potential B1G member?

 

Declining TV ratings for College Football Playoff National Title should be reason for concern

SATURDAYBLITZ.COM

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The College Football Playoff (CFP) National Championship has long been a marquee event in the sports world, drawing millions of viewers each year. This year's c

 

[DanLduck]

These lower numbers won't change anything most likely. 

That's the sad part.

 

The competition for eyes was bigger than we think. There were Balls and Galas and other events all day. By the time the game started, we had been sitting in front of the TV for hours.

I needed a walk!

 

I also think it was too many tOSU games for the nation. Too many CFB games period. After each game, an entire fan base would turn off. Texas and Oregon fans alone would be in the millions.

 

In previous years there were like 2 extra games at seasons end. This year more than 10! Too many except for hard core fans.

 

But I expect they will add more games in the future, not fewer.

[Charles Fischer]

On 1/23/2025 at 9:52 AM, HDuck said:

My opinion, I kinda doubt they would have pulled fans who like to watch college football. 

I am trying to dance around this in a very politically delicate way; when your candidate loses...you watch NONE of the ceremonies or coverage.  When your candidate wins--you watch it all, and record both the coverage going on, and the game itself.  And then flip back and forth?  

 

Or you would watch the news coverage that evening of the day's major event, and perhaps get the highlights of the 'Natty on YouTube later if your team is not involved...  Just saying.

 

Not that I would know for sure, but...

 

[HDuck]

"...think it was too many tOSU games for the nation. Too many CFB games period. After each game, an entire fan base would turn off."

 

Yep, that was one of the similar "conclusions" in the link:  "some fans may have experienced fatigue from seeing the same teams multiple times in a short span"

 

Personally, I didn't watch tOSU vs Texas, but I did watch most of the game vs Notre Dame.  I suppose the latter because it was a B1G team, and interest in whether they could carry their Rose Bowl success to a title.  Unless you were fans of Michigan, Tenn, Oregon, Texas you didn't have that connection.  What interest would fans of S. Carolina, for example, have in that game?

 

But, the viewership trend was also down in 2 of the last 3 four-team invitational seasons.  Alabama or Georgia - viewer fatigue of same teams?  Yet, the 12-team was supposed to renew and excite more fans but didn't seem to happen in quarterfinals, semifinals and final.   Still a bit of a puzzle to me...

[30Duck]

On 1/23/2025 at 9:40 AM, Jon Joseph said:

Like it or not, the football games that bring in the viewers are games featuring a B1G or SEC team, Notre Dame

In spite of this game featuring the BIG of the B1G against Notre Dame, the viewers weren't there. I feel like most didn't think it would be much of a game, and that a lot of the viewers accounted for were alerted on their phones to check it out in the 4th quarter. ESPN, (Herbie) said it was thrilled with the match-up.

[DanLduck]

I didn't want to watch. I was too disappointed Oregon was not in it.

I did watch 2nd half from curiosity. I also only watch CFB. Highlights of former Ducks in NFL, that's it.

 

Are we watching CFB overload?

Guess we'll see.

[BigBallzChipper]

I tuned in for 1 quarter that being the fourth quarter. I had no dog in the fight. Honestly, I would have preferred if there was a way both teams could lose! A new rule I would propose.

[Nevada Dawg]

Yeah my enthusiasm waned big time when, over a 7-hour period, both Oregon and Georgia lost in the quarterfinals. And just consider how little enthusiasm would have ensued had both Georgia and Texas kept winning and played (for a third time this season) in the Natty. Much as I'd have liked to see one of my teams play in that game, that matchup would have been a nightmare for the first 12-team playoff.

[Annie]

I had intended to watch the entire game, but ended up watching the second half, because with the 4:30 start time I got busy doing other things and hadn't thought about the game until I realized I'd already missed the first half!

[Jon Joseph]

On 1/23/2025 at 5:27 PM, HDuck said:

"...think it was too many tOSU games for the nation. Too many CFB games period. After each game, an entire fan base would turn off."

 

Yep, that was one of the similar "conclusions" in the link:  "some fans may have experienced fatigue from seeing the same teams multiple times in a short span"

 

Personally, I didn't watch tOSU vs Texas, but I did watch most of the game vs Notre Dame.  I suppose the latter because it was a B1G team, and interest in whether they could carry their Rose Bowl success to a title.  Unless you were fans of Michigan, Tenn, Oregon, Texas you didn't have that connection.  What interest would fans of S. Carolina, for example, have in that game?

 

But, the viewership trend was also down in 2 of the last 3 four-team invitational seasons.  Alabama or Georgia - viewer fatigue of same teams?  Yet, the 12-team was supposed to renew and excite more fans but didn't seem to happen in quarterfinals, semifinals and final.   Still a bit of a puzzle to me...

Great take, H. Thanks.

 

On Monday, January 12, 2015, Ohio State defeated OBD to win the inaugural 4-team Playoff title. 34 (33.9) Million people tuned in. 

 

The 2015 game did not feature an SEC team. Alabama was defeated by the No. 4 seed, OSU, in the semi-finals played in the Sugar Bowl. OBD eliminated Dixie with a defeat of FSU. The semi-finals were played on New Year's Day. All four teams played in their conference champ game and the four teams had the same delay in play before 1/1/2015.

 

The title game was played on Monday, January 12th in the Cotton Bowl in Arlington, Texas. The game was not up against a historic event.

 

The game as will be the case in 2026-27 through 2032, was broadcast on network TV, ABC, and not on cable TV.  With many cables being cut this had to affect the number of willing viewers able to tune in. 

 

The CFB season starts and ends too late. As you so noted, by the 4th game many fans had likely seen enough of Ohio State and Notre Dame. SEC fans were likely tired of being told that their conference was no longer the lead sled dog. (Recency bias IMO.) Why tune in to watch two teams from the Midwest play ball? 

 

The fans of the twelve playoff teams were involved in the first round with their team either playing ball or watching to see what team the four teams with a bye would play. The championship game in 2015 was played the week before the NFL semi-final playoff games; the biggest weekend of NFL football will be played this weekend. 

 

The PO format including the timing of games needs to be fixed as noted by many OBD fans on the Forum. Not happening before 2026-27.

 

Perhaps in this electronic peripatetic world in which we live, eight teams in the field are enough?  Five automatic qualifiers and three at large? Four on-campus quarter-final games, semi-finals on January 1st. Champ game earlier than the Ides of January. But Di$ney/E$PN is not likely to reduce the inventory. 

 

 

[Nevada Dawg]

I listened to the Dawgnation Daily podcast yesterday and the podcaster drew a parallel between the expansion of races NASCAR ran to get to its championship race starting in 2005 and the expansion of the college football playoffs. NASCAR was becoming more popular all over the country then and races were run all around the country rather than predominately in the South. The effect on viewership was unexpected and disappointing, kinda like what we just witnessed with the CFP this past year.

 

Follow up research suggested that the "playoff" type races run around the country were confusing to spectators who couldn't keep straight which races were being broadcast when. Plus people tended to tune out once local favorite drivers were eliminated. So rather than expanding the appeal of the sport, the changes tended to weaken it.

 

There are obviously lots of differences between NASCAR and the CFP, but the structural changes instituted back then for the former and in CFP this past year are similar in some ways. I was a strong proponent of expansion of the CFP, but the NASCAR experience may provide some food for thought before we expand the present CFP further by adding even more games for people who are not fanatics like most of us to keep straight.

[30Duck]

The expanded CFP does keep more fans interested longer. it was, and still will be next season, the fault of the format. The format dismissed the value of the regular season and highlighted that money is the only reason for a conference championship game, especially if one of the teams is 12-0.

 

A proper format, with 12 teams is fine, 14 with a proper format would work, but I don't know if adding a Alabama and Ole Miss would help the product. Probably attract more NASCAR fans.