Biggest tracked game
34.1M
2014 Oregon at Ohio State on ESPN 'Megacast'
Audience Intelligence
College Football TV Ratings & Viewership Lab
Compare rated college football audiences by game, team, conference, network, and era using Sports Media Watch rows matched to CFBTrack games.
Rated Sample
4,636 games
2014 – 2025 with 7 rows still flagged for review.
Average Audience
2.22M
Median game is 1.27M across 12 seasons.
Audience Context
Rated-game rows are separated from schedule coverage so audience comparisons stay tied to measured broadcasts.
Most Watched
34.1M
Oregon at Ohio State on ESPN 'Megacast'.
Top Team Draw
Unavailable
Team draw rankings will appear once the rated sample is available.
Rated Games
4,636
Sports Media Watch audience rows matched to CFBTrack games.
Median Audience
1.27M
Average audience is 2.22M in the active scope.
10M+ Games
133
Eight-figure TV audiences in the rated-game sample.
Coverage Range
2014 – 2025
Audience rows are tracked separately from schedule-only media coverage.
Audience research
TV ratings and viewership lab
Use Sports Media Watch audience rows to compare games, teams, conferences, and network draw.
CFP era4,636 gamesAll rated games5,328 gamesRegular season4,848 gamesPostseason480 games10M+ club133 gamesNetwork TV1,565 games
Rated games
4,636
2014-2025 with 7 rows in review.
Average viewers
2.22M
Median audience is 1.27M.
Most watched
34.1M
Oregon at Ohio State
Million-plus games
2,617
9.6% of rated rows are postseason.
Team and network comparisons use matched rated-game rows from the active scope; regular-season filters use the dataset's regular season_type and team brand-lift baselines exclude direct head-to-head games.
Share hooks
Stats built for arguments
Fast cuts from the active filter, ready to copy into a post or use as a research lead.
Top team draw
Alabama
8.35M average across 140 rated games
Best repeat matchup
24.6M
Alabama vs Clemson, 4 tracked games
Regular-season king
19.1M
2023 Ohio State at Michigan on FOX
10M+ club
110
Games reached at least eight-figure audiences
Top conference draw
Southeastern Conference
4.43M average by team appearance
Top outlet
ESPN
2.36M average across 1258 games
Rated games
Most-watched game table
Sort by viewers, rating, season, or outlet to inspect the top broadcast audience rows.
| Game | Share | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oregon at Ohio State | 2014 · W1 | ESPN 'Megacast' | 34.1M | N/A | |
| Alabama at Georgia | 2017 · W1 | ESPN,ESPN2,ESPNU | 28.4M | N/A | |
| Alabama at Ohio State | 2014 · W1 | ESPN | 28.3M | N/A | |
| Oregon at Florida State | 2014 · W1 | ESPN | 28.2M | N/A | |
| Alabama at Michigan | 2023 · W1 | ESPN/ESPN2/ESPNU | 27.8M | N/A | |
| Georgia at Oklahoma | 2017 · W1 | ESPN &ESPN2 | 26.9M | N/A | |
| Alabama at Clemson | 2015 · W1 | ESPN Megacast | 26.2M | N/A | |
| Clemson at LSU | 2019 · W1 | ESPN Megacast | 25.6M | N/A | |
| Clemson at Alabama | 2018 · W1 | ESPN Megacast | 25.3M | N/A | |
| Clemson at Alabama | 2016 · W1 | ESPN Megacast | 25.3M | N/A | |
| Washington at Michigan | 2023 · W1 | ESPN | 25.1M | N/A | |
| Georgia at Alabama | 2021 · W1 | ESPN | 22.6M | N/A | |
| Ohio State at Georgia | 2022 · W1 | ESPN/ESPN Megacast | 22.4M | N/A | |
| TCU at Michigan | 2022 · W1 | ESPN/ESPN Megacast | 21.7M | N/A | |
| Alabama at Clemson | 2017 · W1 | ESPN &ESPN2 | 21.5M | N/A | |
| Clemson at Ohio State | 2019 · W1 | ESPN Megacast | 21.1M | N/A | |
| Ohio State at Oregon | 2024 · W1 | ESPN/ESPN2/ESPNU | 21.1M | N/A | |
| Washington at Alabama | 2016 · W1 | ESPNESPN2 | 19.3M | N/A | |
| Ohio State at Clemson | 2016 · W1 | ESPNESPN2 | 19.2M | N/A | |
| Ohio State at Clemson | 2020 · W1 | ESPN Mega | 19.1M | N/A | |
| Ohio State at Michigan | 2023 · W13 | FOX | 19.1M | N/A | |
| Oklahoma at Alabama | 2018 · W1 | ESPN/ESPN2 | 19.1M | N/A | |
| Notre Dame at Alabama | 2020 · W1 | ESPN Mega | 18.9M | N/A | |
| Texas at Washington | 2023 · W1 | ESPN | 18.8M | N/A | |
| Ohio State at Alabama | 2020 · W1 | ESPN Mega | 18.6M | N/A |
Rated games
Most-watched regular-season games
A cleaner table for regular-season TV arguments, where postseason inventory does not dominate the top rows.
| Game | Share | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ohio State at Michigan | 2023 · W13 | FOX | 19.1M | N/A | |
| Ohio State at Michigan | 2025 · W14 | FOX | 18.4M | N/A | |
| Georgia at Alabama | 2023 · W14 | CBS | 17.5M | N/A | |
| Alabama at Georgia | 2018 · W14 | CBS | 17.5M | N/A | |
| Michigan at Ohio State | 2022 · W13 | FOX | 17.1M | N/A | |
| Michigan at Ohio State | 2016 · W13 | ABC | 16.8M | N/A | |
| LSU at Alabama | 2019 · W11 | CBS | 16.6M | N/A | |
| Georgia at Texas | 2024 · W15 | ABC | 16.6M | N/A | |
| Texas at Ohio State | 2025 · W1 | FOX | 16.6M | N/A | |
| Ohio State at Michigan | 2021 · W13 | FOX | 15.9M | N/A |
Rivalry TV index
Repeat matchups that travel
Matchups with at least three tracked games, ranked by average audience.
#1
Alabama vs Clemson
4 games · top game Alabama at Clemson at 26.2M
24.6M
Average
#2
Clemson vs Ohio State
3 games · top game Clemson at Ohio State at 21.1M
19.8M
Average
#3
Ohio State vs Oregon
4 games · top game Oregon at Ohio State at 34.1M
18.1M
Average
#4
Alabama vs Georgia
9 games · top game Alabama at Georgia at 28.4M
15.6M
Average
#5
Michigan vs Ohio State
11 games · top game Ohio State at Michigan at 19.1M
14.1M
Average
#6
Georgia vs Texas
4 games · top game Georgia at Texas at 16.6M
13.4M
Average
#7
Alabama vs Oklahoma
3 games · top game Oklahoma at Alabama at 19.1M
12.2M
Average
#8
Notre Dame vs Ohio State
3 games · top game Notre Dame at Ohio State at 10.5M
10.1M
Average
#9
Georgia vs LSU
3 games · top game Georgia at LSU at 13.7M
10.0M
Average
#10
Alabama vs Auburn
11 games · top game Alabama at Auburn at 13.7M
9.99M
Average