CFP delivers low National Championship Game ratings after semis were also down despite dramatic Ohio State win
The Ohio State Buckeyes defeated the Notre Dame Fighting Irish on Monday night to capture an incredible National Championship.
Even though there was drama during the game, ESPN did not see a significant increase in viewership.
Twelve teams were vying for the top prize in the inaugural year of the enlarged college football playoffs.
However, despite skyrocketing ticket costs, Sports Media Watch reports that the 2025 edition was the fifth-worst National Championship game in 27 years.
Since the beginning of the 1998 Bowl Championship series, ESPN networks with a high Nielsen rating have been monitored.
Even still, the average attendance for the Buckeyes’ 34–23 victory was only 22.1 million, a 12.1% decrease from the previous year.
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ABC did not carry the game, but local ESPN cable networks did.
It remained the season’s most watched college game and the most watched non-NFL sporting event since the previous Super Bowl.
Additionally, the title game was the most watched event of the college season for just the second time in the previous five years.
At approximately 8.30 p.m. ET, 26.1 million people watched the game, marking its early peak.
In the past five years, three of the least watched championship games have occurred, according to Sports Media Watch.
Following this, Georgia’s resounding victory against TCU in 2023 drew an average of just 17.2 million viewers, while Alabama vs. Ohio State in 2021 drew an average of 19.1 million.
Because football fans are not accustomed to watching college football in late January, analysts think that the expanded schedule has affected ratings.
The NFL season is also beginning to peak at this time.
Following back-to-back games on Saturday and Sunday in the Divisional Round, the game took place on Monday.
The game itself, in which Ohio State had a 31-7 lead before a late Notre Dame comeback failed, is anticipated to have affected the attendance figures.
Monday also saw the inauguration of Donald Trump as president.
“It wasn’t like at the end of the year we were broken, it wasn’t that way,” Ohio State head coach Ryan Day stated following the loss.
College football’s 2024 shake-up
One of the most significant developments in college football in recent years has been the move of Oklahoma and Texas from the Big 12 to the SEC.
And that started a domino effect that has left the Pac-12 league in ruins.
The Pac-12 now only consists of Washington State and Oregon State after losing ten of its twelve members.
Four of those teams—Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, and Utah—are on their way to the Big 12.
Four more are headed to the Big 10: USC, UCLA, Washington, and Oregon.
Additionally, Stanford and California, the other two teams, will join the ACC league.
No SEC, Big Ten, or ACC teams have gone.
“Our day was terrible. I’m at a loss for words to express it.
“We had an awful day, and we just said we could never do that again, and I think it s the job of the head coach to take the responsibility when something goes bad like that.”
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Day won the national title and received a $1 million winning bonus.
This is in addition to his yearly pay of $10 million.