'CFP Championship Attracts High Viewership Despite Overlapping with Inauguration'
Ohio State's triumph against Notre Dame in Monday's College Football Playoff championship match achieved impressive ratings for ESPN despite being played just hours after President Donald Trump's inauguration ceremony.
The network stated that the CFP title game attracted 22.1 million viewers and reached a peak of 26.1 from 8:30-8:45 p.m. ET. This is a decrease from last year's title game, which was won by Big 10 rival Michigan and had an average of 25.05 million viewers. However, it did mark the most-watched game of this season's expanded 12-team playoff schedule.
While President Trump's inauguration took place earlier in the day, coverage of the event continued throughout the day.
ESPN reported that the Buckeyes' victory was the most-viewed non-NFL sporting event of the past year. Additionally, more than half of the highly sought-after demographic of viewers between 18-49 years old who were watching television were tuned into the game.
These numbers were a positive sign after this year's CFP ratings were down approximately 17 percent through the semifinals. However, they also continued the steady increase round-by-round. The first round averaged 10.6 million viewers, the quarterfinals averaged 16.9 million, and the semifinals averaged 19.2 million.
Despite the decline in ratings for this year's CFP, particularly for the first round held on the home teams' campuses and airing against NFL playoff games, executive director Rich Clark mentioned the possibility of holding more games on-campus in the future.
Clark stated that FBS commissioners will discuss the idea of potentially playing quarterfinal games at campus locations.
"We will definitely discuss it," Clark said. "The campus games were incredible. The atmosphere and everything that happened there, and a lot of people are very interested. But the quarterfinals and semifinals were also amazing."
The expanded playoff format debuted this season with four first-round games at campus sites.
Notre Dame, Penn State, Texas, and Ohio State each hosted a game and received praise from fans, media members, and coaches for the lively and electrifying atmosphere of each match.
These games then gave way to the more traditional settings for the playoff, with the quarterfinals and semifinals taking place at New Year's Six bowl sites. The Fiesta, Rose, Peach, and Sugar Bowls hosted the quarterfinals, while the semifinals were played at the Orange and Cotton Bowls.
The New Year's Six bowl sites exclusively hosted playoff games from 2014-2023, and they remain under contract to host playoff games through the 2025-2026 season.
