Thanks to the first team of 12 College Football Playoffs, ESPN was able to capitalize with huge television audience gains. It all culminated in a record setting for Monday’s national championship between Ohio State And Notre Dame.
The Buckeyes’ title victory averaged 22.1 million viewers, ESPN reported Wednesday. This is the most-watched game of the expanded College Football Playoff, but it’s a decrease from last year’s national championship between Washington And Michiganwhich averaged 25.05 million.
The national championship took place hours after the president that of Donald Trump inauguration ceremony, but coverage continued throughout the day. This could have played a role in the decline in viewership from 2024. Still, the title match was the most watched sporting event – outside of the championship. NFL – since last year’s championship.
ESPN had a lot of momentum in the first-ever 12-team College Football Playoff, which began with games at on-campus venues and two games at TNT via a game sublicensing agreement. From the quarter-finals, ESPN once again became the exclusive headquarters of the CFP, and the Rose bowl Notably, it was the most-watched non-NFL sporting event since last year’s national championship with 21.1 million viewers. The national championship has just exceeded this figure.
The semi-finals then hosted the most watched match Cotton bowl recorded and second most viewed Orange Bowl in 20 years later Kirk Herbstreit dubbed the final four teams a “ratings bonanza” while speaking with On3 Andy Staples And Ari Wasserman on Andy and Ari-sur3. That set the table for a College Football Playoff national championship set for a big night of television ratings as two of the biggest brands in college football faced off.
How it happened: Ohio State wins national title
Notre Dame put together an unforgettable opening drive to take a 7-0 lead in the first quarter. From there, it became Ohio State as the Buckeyes took a 24-7 halftime lead and, ultimately, a 31-7 advantage in the third quarter.
But the Fighting Irish didn’t back down. Riley Leonard connected with Jaden’s Big Housewho broke several tackles to find the end zone and make it a 31-15 game after the two-point conversion. Notre Dame then had its first turnover and entered the red zone, but Marcus Freeman chose to send the cart unit. Mitch Jeter’s The attempt went off the upright, giving the ball back to Ohio State.
The Buckeyes then punted again and Leonard found Greathouse for his second touchdown of the day, and a creative two-point conversion made it a one-score game. Ohio State then tried to make things happen, but the offense began to stall. In other words, until Jeremiah Smith came back into the picture.
Will Howard found the elite freshman for a 57-yard pass to seal the game. A Jayden Fielding the basket was the icing on the cake, cementing the Buckeyes’ 34-23 victory to capture their first national title under Ryan Day and cap off an impressive run in the CFP to bounce back from a defeat against Michigan to end the regular season.
But for the PCP, it meant the end of a new era. The 12-team College Football Playoff created the longest season in the sport’s history, although it was rewarded with big wins in television ratings.
However, questions remain about whether changes could be afoot. The steering committee met in Atlanta this week, but nothing came of those conversations, even though On3 leaders Pete Nakos the reported changes may still be possible in the future.
From a television perspective, two first-round games took place directly against the NFL and attracted the lowest viewership of those four contests. As for how the league and CFP can avoid further conflict, executive director Rich Clark NFL commissioner said Roger Goodell remains “committed” to working on future programming.
