College Football Playoff First Round Sees Ratings Dip Amid NFL Competition and Cable Shift

By Blessing Nweke

The first round of last weekend’s College Football Playoff averaged 9.9 million viewers across ABC, ESPN, TNT, TBS and truTV, according to ESPN and Nielsen, marking a 7% decline from last year’s opening round.

A key factor behind the drop was scheduling and platform placement. The final first-round game, Oregon’s 51-34 win over James Madison, aired exclusively on TNT, TBS and truTV rather than on ABC or ESPN, while also competing directly with a prime-time NFL matchup. The college game drew 4.4 million viewers, far below the audience for Fox’s NFL broadcast, where the Chicago Bears’ 22-16 overtime victory over the Green Bay Packers averaged 21.3 million.

By comparison, last year’s Ohio State–Tennessee CFP opener aired on ABC and ESPN, averaged 14.3 million viewers, and did not face NFL competition.

Despite the overall decline, several CFP games delivered strong numbers. Alabama’s 34-24 comeback victory over Oklahoma averaged 14.9 million viewers on a Friday night on ABC and ESPN, making it the most-watched first-round game of the CFP in the two years since expansion to a 12-team field. It also ranked as the fifth-most watched college football game of the season. Alabama appeared in six of the season’s top 20 most-viewed games.

Miami’s 10-7 win over Texas A&M averaged 14.8 million viewers on ABC and ESPN on Saturday afternoon, more than doubling the 6.4 million audience for the SMU–Penn State game airing simultaneously on TNT, TBS and truTV. The Hurricanes’ victory ranked as the sixth-most watched game of the season.

Games carried exclusively on Warner Bros. Discovery networks generally trailed last year’s numbers. Ole Miss’ 41-10 rout of Tulane averaged 6.2 million viewers, down from 8.6 million for Texas–Clemson in the same time slot last year.

ESPN, which sublicenses CFP games to TNT, TBS and truTV, will expand that arrangement next year, with the networks set to carry two quarterfinals and one semifinal, following last year’s quarterfinal average of 16.9 million viewers on ESPN and ESPN2.