CFP Title Game Draws Season’s Largest Audience but Sees Decline in Viewership
Ohio State’s 34-23 victory over Notre Dame in the College Football Playoff National Championship was the most-watched game of the season but experienced a notable drop in viewership compared to last year.
According to ESPN, the Buckeyes’ second CFP-era national title averaged 22.1 million viewers, making it the most-watched non-NFL sporting event of the past year. However, this marked a 12% decline from the 25 million who tuned in for Michigan’s 34-13 win over Washington in 2024.
This year’s championship game had the third-lowest viewership of the 11 CFP title matchups, with all three of the least-watched occurring in the past five years. The audience peaked at 26.1 million viewers during the second quarter when the game was tied at 7-7.
Since Alabama’s dramatic 26-23 overtime victory over Georgia in 2018, the past seven title games have seen an average margin of victory of 25.4 points. Ohio State held a commanding 31-7 lead in the third quarter before Notre Dame closed the gap to within one possession late in the fourth.
Among CFP title games, Georgia’s dominant 65-7 win over TCU in 2023 drew the lowest viewership (17.2 million), followed by Alabama’s 52-24 victory over Ohio State in 2021 (18.7 million). The most-watched championship remains Ohio State’s 42-20 win over Oregon in 2015, which drew 33.9 million viewers, according to Nielsen.
This season marked the debut of the expanded 12-team playoff format. The first round averaged 10.6 million viewers, with the quarterfinals drawing 16.9 million. The semifinals averaged 19.2 million viewers, reflecting a 17% decline from the previous year. Unlike this season, both semifinal games in 2024 were played on January 1, with Michigan’s overtime win over Alabama in the Rose Bowl attracting a higher audience (27.7 million) than the Wolverines’ eventual championship victory.
Overall, nine of the 10 most-watched college football games this season were CFP matchups, with Georgia’s overtime victory over Texas in the SEC Championship ranking sixth at 16.6 mil
lion viewers.
