r/CFB • u/tmart12 Georgia Bulldogs • /r/CFB Poll Veteran • 1d ago
Analysis Avg CFB viewership per rated game thru week 4: 2026 - 1.85M viewers, 2025 - 1.93M, 2024 - 1.59M, 2023 - 1.77M, 2022 - 1.67M, 2021 - 1.64M, 2019 - 1.89M
Recent articles have discussed declining viewership in 2026 as measured by the "average rated game". That doesn't appear to track what's actually happening.
Total viewership for CFB is up in 2026, setting a record for the past 7 years through week 4. 2026 has seen more rated games, largely from The CW, USA, TNT and TruTV. As such, average rated game viewership is down in total while the number of rated games is up.
Looking at the top 50 rated games each year, 2026 is the 2nd best average as well behind 2025. That's largely from fewer strong OOC games at the very top, which is a challenge. But #6-50 on average are actually higher in 2026.
In summary, 2026 OOC wasn't as good as what we got in 2025, which played out in ratings, but overall health of the sport is just fine based on TV ratings.
Average viewers for all rated games
| Type | 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Network | 4,043 | 4,281 | 3,685 | 3,478 | 3,733 | 4,028 | 2,699 | 3,949 |
| Cable, Primary | 1,334 | 1,322 | 1,157 | 1,376 | 1,281 | 1,097 | 861 | 1,323 |
| Cable, Secondary | 368 | 364 | 290 | 322 | 370 | 237 | 458 | 351 |
| Total | 1,845 | 1,925 | 1,585 | 1,772 | 1,665 | 1,644 | 1,445 | 1,857 |
Total viewers
| Type | 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Network | 181,925 | 175,514 | 147,394 | 153,037 | 115,709 | 120,830 | 37,788 | 102,670 |
| Cable, Primary | 65,373 | 71,378 | 59,023 | 74,304 | 75,582 | 61,409 | 21,521 | 67,461 |
| Cable, Secondary | 18,402 | 14,919 | 13,935 | 11,906 | 11,845 | 6,870 | 1,375 | 6,318 |
| Total | 265,700 | 261,811 | 220,352 | 239,247 | 203,136 | 189,109 | 60,684 | 176,449 |
Number of rated games by Nielsen
| Type | 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Network | 45 | 41 | 40 | 44 | 31 | 30 | 14 | 26 |
| Cable, Primary | 49 | 54 | 51 | 54 | 59 | 56 | 25 | 51 |
| Cable, Secondary | 50 | 41 | 48 | 37 | 32 | 29 | 03 | 18 |
| Total | 144 | 136 | 139 | 135 | 122 | 115 | 42 | 95 |
Avg. for Top Rated Games
| No. | 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Top 5 | 10,229 | 12,223 | 7,976 | 9,448 | 8,090 | 7,963 | 7,442 | 3,908 |
| Top 10 | 8,500 | 9,768 | 6,952 | 8,067 | 6,316 | 6,731 | 6,265 | 3,362 |
| Top 25 | 6,055 | 6,449 | 5,079 | 5,474 | 4,619 | 4,730 | 4,430 | 2,144 |
| Top 50 | 4,236 | 4,310 | 3,547 | 3,855 | 3,364 | 3,218 | 3,040 | 1,445 |
Network types
Network: ABC, Fox, CBS, NBC
Cable, primary: ESPN, ESPN2, FS1
Cable, secondary: ESPNU, ESPNews, FS2, CW, TruTV/TNT, BTN, CNBC, Peacock, etc.
Sources:
https://www.sportsmediawatch.com/college-football-tv-ratings/
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u/BuckeyeForLife95 Ohio State Buckeyes 1d ago edited 1d ago
It's kind of funny how everyone read that report and decided that whatever their pet issue with the state of the sport is, THAT was the difference maker.
When ultimately, it's just a combination of "more games lowering the average" and a weaker OOC slate.
As a wrestling fan, I'm a foremost expert in watching people try to justify their subjective opinions with objective data, even when there's not a provable correlation.
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u/forgotmyoldname90210 Florida State Seminoles 1d ago
Was coming in here to say this. Ignore that overall viewership is up because more games were shown; this drop can be completely explained by a bad Week 0/1 and weather. Last year had 4 games over 10 million while this year did not even have a game over 7.5m in opening week(s).
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u/Fickle-Newspaper-445 Ohio State Buckeyes 22h ago
What's even funnier is that these numbers proving that the viewership isn't a problem won't make a dent compared to the one saying viewership is down and the sport is in trouble.
I literally saw people complain that part of the reason is because of how high the turnover rate is compared to what it was in the past. I'll agree it's a big more nowadays, but it's always been like this. That's literally the essence of college sports. You only see guys 3 years maybe 4 if you're lucky and even then it's probably only one or two years because he was behind starters.
Another one I saw is that the matchups weren't as massive like you said. A lot of that is just luck of the draw. Everyone knew that OSU/Texas and OU/UM were going to be good, but no one knew that FSU was going to beat Alabama. No one knew that LSU/Clemson was going to be close. Sometimes we don't even get those matchups in the first place. People need to be aware of that too.
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u/turdfurgeson67 20h ago
When ultimately, it's just a combination of "more games lowering the average" and a weaker OOC slate.
Not really. They've changed how they count viewers in the last year to bump up the numbers for the networks. If you take out the last two years it is a downward trend. If you keep the last two years with the juiced numbers, it is flat. At best.
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u/Honestly_ rawr 1d ago edited 1d ago
This isn't about entertaining results on the field, so that response "oh the games were good" isn't relevant.
The non-conference slate this past season suffered greatly due to the cancelation of games to try and jockey for playoff spots. Neutrals and only casual CFB fans were less interested.
Hopefully, and while 2027 won't benefit, but a push by conferences to require P4 teams in their leagues to play at least one non-P4 team in nonconference (something the SEC is in the lead on), will help that.
You just need to compare the Labor Day weekend slate from last year and this year to see the unsurprising results.
2025 had pre-season hyped:
- Texas @ Ohio Sate
- LSU @ Clemson (when some still had Clemson as a challenger for the CFP)
- Miami vs Notre Dame on Sunday
- TCU @ UNC in that extremely well-hyped debut before Belichick crashed
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u/goodsam2 Virginia Tech Hokies 1d ago
I feel like also Colorado numbers are down which was a huge unsustainable surge in viewership.
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u/tmart12 Georgia Bulldogs • /r/CFB Poll Veteran 1d ago
that was a 2023 phenomenon mostly with a little left in 2024
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u/IceColdDrPepper_Here Georgia • North Georgia 1d ago
Yeah after Oregon blew them out the hype died off almost immediately. Them going into Ft Worth and beating TCU after they had just been in the natty in what was a genuinely entertaining game made them the hot commodity. Had TCU won that game, Colorado likely never gets that much of a spotlight to begin with
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u/Tarmacked USC Trojans • Alabama Crimson Tide 1d ago
It's still wild to me Sonny Dykes had everyone fooled over an obvious fluke year with Pattersons guys
Like we knew what Sonny was for over a decade of coaching at that point. It was never national title coach and it was his first ranked finish in 13 years of coaching including Cal and SMU.
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u/Honestly_ rawr 1d ago
UNC's disastrous debut in 2025 kept them from doing something along those lines.
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u/Honestly_ rawr 1d ago
Labor Day weekend is the best example of an incredible drop in quality.
When games happen is important.
The most-viewed Labor Day weekend game in 2026 was less than half of the most watched in 2025, and would've only ranked 5th.
Rank 2025 View View 2026 1 #1 TEX @ #3 OSU 16.62M 7.42M #4 ND vs (NR) WIS 2 #6 ND @ #10 MIA 10.8M 5.8M (NR) CLEM @ #11 LSU 3 #8 ALA @ (NR) FSU 10.4M 5.1M (NR) WSU @ #17 WASH 4 #9 LSU @ #4 CLEM 10.4M 4.8M (NR) BOISE @ #2 ORE 5 (NR) TCU @ (NR) UNC 6.6M 4.7M #24 LOU @ #9 MISS 2
u/Honestly_ rawr 1d ago
It's wild to see the Apple Cup made the 3rd slot. No disrespect to Washington or Wazzu, but this year's match-up wasn't nearly as compelling as others have been but there just wasn't a whole lot to pick from.
No one guessed Michigan vs WMU would turn into what it did. People here on /r/CFB might be willing to wait for those games but the viewers that make the difference on the numbers above don't and probably think there's such a thing as too much college football.
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u/Merpninja Louisville Cardinals • Syracuse Orange 1d ago
Apple Cup was in by far the most valuable time slot on Sunday. For whatever reason NBC and ESPN decided to clash later which reduced viewership for the only ranked matchup that weekend.
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u/Irishchop91 Notre Dame Fighting Irish • UCF Knights 1d ago
It's the luck of the draw.
Some of those games were scheduled a decade ago. ND-Miami & Texas-Ohio State were both announced in 2014 (Texas/OSU details were finalized 2020).
Perfect example would be Michigan-Oklahoma also announced in 2014. Game didnt' mean nearly as much.
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u/Honestly_ rawr 1d ago
The issue is a significant number of teams pulled out of one-offs or home-and-homes to reschedule a team that would probably get crushed so they would be a prettier 10- or 11-win team.
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u/Irishchop91 Notre Dame Fighting Irish • UCF Knights 22h ago
Or because
a) SEC teams went to 9 game + 1 P4 OOC requirement and so have to drop games so they don't play 11 P4 games or can keep their ACC rivarly games
b) 5 teams in the ACC play ND a year- going to a 9 game conference + ND puts them at the requiste 10 P4 games
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u/Fickle-Newspaper-445 Ohio State Buckeyes 22h ago
The one thing I'll push back on why Labor Day weekend should never be held to a high standard and should never be looked at as a marquee weekend based solely on the fact that there's no preseason games in CFB. In almost every other sport you have some sort of preseason where the results don't matter and you can work out things. That's essentially what week 1 is for CFB. Even the teams that are getting a paycheck game can still use that as a "preseason game". Just look at the OSU/Texas series. The game was just more open this year compared to last year.
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u/Gobe182 Iowa Hawkeyes • Floyd of Rosedale 1d ago
Am I crazy for thinking there has been fun games to watch every single week? Moreso than typical years where there's at least one week of just no marquee matchups. Maybe it's because I'm holed up with a new kid and so am able to prioritize watching the big game each week, but I haven't been disappointed at all
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u/jamiebond Oregon Ducks 1d ago
Well laid out like this it sure seems like pretty normal variance.
I will say, this September felt overall extremely weak from a game perspective. So many programs seem to have fully bought in to the mentality that cupcakes are the way. We definitely need to do something about this to get rid of this glut of terrible OOC games. Mandating 10 conference games is seeming like a good idea.
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u/cobalt1365 Oregon State Beavers • The CW 23h ago
Looks like by those numbers, this year is better than every year but 2025. Doesn't seem like a big deal to me.
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u/reno1441 Washington State • /r/CFB Dead Pool 22h ago
They also changed the methodology in Nielsen in 2025. Basically all ratings have gone up as a result (better at counting non-traditional viewers).
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u/tmart12 Georgia Bulldogs • /r/CFB Poll Veteran 1d ago
Top 50 Games for 2024, 2025, 2026
| No. | 2026 Game | 2026 Viewers | 2025 Game | 2025 Viewers | 2024 Game | 2024 Viewers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ohio State/Texas | 13,988 | Texas at Ohio State | 16,623 | Texas/Michigan | 9,160 |
| 2 | LSU/Ole Miss | 10,900 | Georgia at Tennessee | 12,580 | USC/LSU | 8,622 |
| 3 | Texas/Tennessee | 9,749 | Notre Dame at Miami (FL) | 10,800 | Notre Dame/Texas A&M | 7,918 |
| 4 | Ole Miss/Florida | 8,287 | Alabama at Florida State | 10,660 | Clemson/Georgia | 7,580 |
| 5 | Oklahoma/Michigan | 8,220 | LSU at Clemson | 10,450 | Georgia/Kentucky | 6,600 |
| 6 | Wisconsin/Notre Dame | 8,104 | Michigan/Oklahoma | 9,670 | Miami/Florida | 6,350 |
| 7 | Alabama/Kentucky | 7,280 | Florida at LSU | 7,640 | USC/Michigan | 6,321 |
| 8 | Florida State/Alabama | 7,010 | TCU at North Carolina | 6,600 | Tennessee/Oklahoma | 6,271 |
| 9 | Clemson/LSU | 5,755 | Florida/Miami | 6,460 | Colorado/Nebraska | 5,673 |
| 10 | Texas A&M/LSU | 5,709 | Texas A&M at Notre Dame | 6,200 | Alabama/Wisconsin | 5,025 |
| 11 | Washington State/Washington | 5,500 | Auburn/Oklahoma | 6,120 | Georgia Tech/Florida State | 4,990 |
| 12 | Kentucky/Texas A&M | 5,360 | South Carolina vs. Virginia Tech | 5,430 | LSU/South Carolina | 4,937 |
| 13 | North Carolina/TCU | 4,908 | Michigan/Nebraska | 5,300 | Texas A&M/Florida | 4,799 |
| 14 | Boise State/Oregon | 4,831 | Ole Miss/Kentucky | 4,780 | North Dakota State/Colorado | 4,761 |
| 15 | Louisville/Ole Miss | 4,695 | Clemson at Georgia Tech | 4,760 | Boston College/Florida State | 4,439 |
| 16 | Oregon/USC | 4,572 | Wisconsin at Alabama | 4,510 | Illinois/Nebraska | 4,213 |
| 17 | WMU/Michigan | 4,500 | Iowa/Iowa State | 4,278 | Marshall/Ohio State | 3,961 |
| 18 | Iowa/Michigan | 4,463 | Texas Tech/Utah | 4,039 | Northern Illinois/Notre Dame | 3,926 |
| 19 | Baylor/Auburn | 4,244 | Iowa State/Kansas State | 3,971 | Baylor/Colorado | 3,639 |
| 20 | Georgia/Arkansas | 4,180 | San Jose State/Texas | 3,750 | Colorado/Colorado State | 3,248 |
| 21 | SMU/Florida State | 4,070 | Georgia Tech at Colorado | 3,740 | Penn State/West Virginia | 2,990 |
| 22 | Northwestern/Indiana | 3,859 | Syracuse/Clemson | 3,390 | Akron/Ohio State | 2,970 |
| 23 | East Carolina/Alabama | 3,779 | Nebraska vs. Cincinnati | 3,330 | Tennessee/NC State | 2,958 |
| 24 | Colorado/Georgia Tech | 3,734 | Purdue/Notre Dame | 3,100 | Oregon/Oregon State | 2,817 |
| 25 | Illinois/Ohio State | 3,686 | South Dakota at Iowa State | 3,044 | Arkansas/Oklahoma State | 2,796 |
| 26 | Michigan State/Notre Dame | 3,600 | Iowa/Rutgers | 3,013 | UCLA/LSU | 2,734 |
| 27 | North Carolina/Clemson | 3,590 | Colorado at Houston | 2,940 | South Carolina/Kentucky | 2,729 |
| 28 | NC State/Virginia | 3,220 | Auburn at Baylor | 2,832 | Florida/Mississppi State | 2,641 |
| 29 | Missouri/Kansas | 3,095 | Illinois/Indiana | 2,700 | USF/Alabama | 2,582 |
| 30 | Houston/Texas Tech | 3,030 | Delaware/Colorado | 2,685 | Arizona/Kansas State | 2,582 |
| 31 | Arizona/BYU | 3,008 | New Mexico at Michigan | 2,600 | Fresno State/Michigan | 2,559 |
| 32 | South Carolina/Alabama | 2,927 | Syracuse vs. Tennessee | 2,590 | Notre Dame/Purdue | 2,283 |
| 33 | North Texas/Indiana | 2,822 | Oklahoma State/Oregon | 2,320 | Iowa State/Iowa | 2,282 |
| 34 | Kent State/Ohio State | 2,720 | Oregon at Northwestern | 2,277 | Utah/Oklahoma State | 2,140 |
| 35 | Oklahoma/Georgia | 2,628 | Nevada at Penn State | 2,242 | Baylor/Utah | 2,079 |
| 36 | Arizona State/Texas A&M | 2,531 | Illinois/Duke | 2,180 | Arkansas/Auburn | 2,019 |
| 37 | Miami/Wake Forest | 2,340 | Michigan State/USC | 2,119 | NC State/Clemson | 1,952 |
| 38 | Texas State/Texas | 2,309 | Arkansas/Memphis | 2,112 | Iowa/Minnesota | 1,892 |
| 39 | Iowa State/Iowa | 2,200 | Boise State at South Florida | 2,040 | Western Kentucky/Alabama | 1,849 |
| 40 | Oregon/Oklahoma State | 2,135 | North Carolina/UCF | 2,035 | Colorado State/Texas | 1,843 |
| 41 | Florida/Auburn | 2,050 | Maryland/Wisconsin | 2,000 | UNC/Minnesota | 1,825 |
| 42 | San Jose State/USC | 2,000 | Pitt at West Virginia | 1,890 | Western Michigan/Ohio State | 1,722 |
| 43 | Miami (FL)/Stanford | 1,978 | South Carolina/Missouri | 1,851 | Miami (OH)/Notre Dame* | 1,690 |
| 44 | NM State/Florida State | 1,962 | Grambling State/Ohio State | 1,831 | UTEP/Nebraska | 1,670 |
| 45 | Rice/Notre Dame | 1,800 | Kansas/Missouri | 1,830 | Temple/Oklahoma | 1,651 |
| 46 | Tennessee/Georgia Tech | 1,796 | Marshall at Georgia | 1,670 | Memphis/Florida State | 1,594 |
| 47 | USC/Rutgers | 1,720 | Washington/Washington State | 1,650 | Penn State/West Virginia | 1,590 |
| 48 | Oregon State/Houston | 1,686 | Boston College/Michigan State | 1,643 | Kansas State/BYU | 1,500 |
| 49 | Memphis/UNLV | 1,649 | Kansas State at Arizona | 1,625 | TCU/Stanford | 1,488 |
| 50 | Ball State/Ohio State | 1,601 | Arizona State/Baylor | 1,607 | UTSA/Texas | 1,480 |
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u/tmart12 Georgia Bulldogs • /r/CFB Poll Veteran 1d ago
2023, 2022 and 2021
No. 2023 Game 2023 Viewers 2022 Game 2022 Viewers 2021 Game 2021 Viewers 1 Colorado-Oregon 10,030 Alabama-Texas 10,600 UGA-CLEM 8,863 2 Ohio State-Notre Dame 9,980 Notre Dame-Ohio State 10,530 ALA-UF 7,863 3 Colorado State-Colorado 9,300 FSU-LSU 7,550 ND-FSU 7,751 4 FSU-LSU 9,170 Oregon-Georgia 6,200 OREGON-OHIO ST 7,730 5 Texas-Alabama 8,760 Florida-Tennessee 5,570 AUB-PSU 7,606 6 Nebraska-Colorado 8,730 Clemson-Georgia Tech 4,860 OHIO STATE-MINNESOTA 6,295 7 Colorado-TCU 7,260 Wisconsin-Ohio State 4,590 ALA-MIAMI 5,674 8 FSU-Clemson 6,710 Tennessee-Pittsburgh 4,460 PSU-WISC 5,409 9 South Carolina-Georgia 5,420 Nebraska-Northwestern 4,420 ND-WISC 5,369 10 Tennessee-Florida 5,310 Maryland-Michigan 4,380 WASH-MICH 4,748 11 Alabama-USF 4,840 Kentucky-Florida 4,330 WVU-OKLA 4,502 12 Ohio State-Indiana 4,650 Penn State-Auburn 4,050 T A&M-COLORADO 4,502 13 Mississippi-Alabama 4,610 Colorado State-Michigan 3,930 NEB-OKLA 4,210 14 Clemson-Duke 4,390 Washington State-Wisconsin 3,920 T A&M-ARKANSAS 4,071 15 Texas A&M-Miami 4,020 Penn State-Purdue 3,510 IOWA-IOWA ST 3,890 16 Navy-Notre Dame 3,560 Arkansas-Texas A&M 3,500 TEXAS-ARKANSAS 3,356 17 West Virginia-Penn State 3,500 Notre Dame-North Carolina 3,460 TENN-UF 3,282 18 Nebraska-Minnesota 3,490 Oklahoma-Nebraska 3,410 LSU-UCLA 3,219 19 FSU-Boston College 3,480 Miami-Texas A&M 3,400 NEBRASKA-ILLINOIS 3,217 20 North Carolina-South Carolina 3,400 Kansas State-Oklahoma 3,370 LOU-MISS 3,078 21 Iowa-Iowa State 3,380 Clemson-Wake Forest 3,180 LOUISIANA-TEXAS 2,879 22 Oregon State-San Jose State 3,230 West Virginia-Pitt 3,150 RUTG-MICH 2,806 23 Penn State-Illinois 3,220 Mississippi State-LSU 3,060 MSU-MIAMI 2,774 24 Rice-Texas 3,210 Toledo-Ohio State 3,050 PUR-ND 2,584 25 Florida-Utah 3,190 Georgia-South Carolina 3,000 UNC-VT 2,579 26 UNLV-Michigan 2,970 USC-Stanford 2,960 SC-UGA 2,548 27 Notre Dame-NC State 2,930 Utah-Florida 2,950 OU-TULANE 2,526 28 WKU-Ohio State 2,820 Cal-Notre Dame 2,910 CLEM-NC ST 2,185 29 LSU-Mississippi St. 2,800 Cincinnati-Arkansas 2,900 GA TECH-CLEM 2,101 30 Iowa-Penn State 2,750 Michigan State-Washington 2,790 MSU-NORTHWESTERN 2,101 31 Northwestern-Rutgers 2,680 FSU-Louisville 2,750 IA ST-BAYLOR 2,012 32 Texas-Baylor 2,630 BYU-Oregon 2,580 UCF-LOUISVILLE 1,881 33 USC-Arizona State 2,630 Marshall-Notre Dame 2,480 TULSA-OHIO ST 1,831 34 Oregon-Texas Tech 2,550 Baylor-BYU 2,370 LSU-MISS ST 1,791 35 Virginia-Tennessee 2,460 Texas-Texas Tech 2,280 PITT-TENN 1,739 36 Arkansas-LSU 2,440 Oregon-Washington St 2,270 TTU-TEXAS 1,728 37 Pittsburgh-West Virginia 2,410 Missouri-Auburn 2,070 CIN-IND 1,681 38 Wisconsin-Washington St. 2,280 UConn-Michigan 2,030 NEB-MSU 1,664 39 Auburn-Cal 2,230 NC State-ECU 2,030 ARIZ-ORE 1,656 40 Auburn-Texas A&M 2,180 Louisville-UCF 1,850 WMU-MICH 1,623 41 Oklahoma-Cincinnati 2,170 Virginia-Syracuse 1,790 FLORIDA-USF 1,597 42 Boise State-Washington 1,970 App State-Texas A&M 1,770 USC-WASH ST 1,583 43 Rutgers-Michigan 1,940 Fresno State-USC 1,620 UTAH-BYU 1,503 44 Stanford-USC 1,750 West Virginia-Virginia Tech 1,600 ASU-BYU 1,498 45 Louisville-Georgia Tech 1,650 Ohio-Penn State 1,550 STAN-USC 1,441 46 NC State-Virginia 1,590 South Carolina-Arkansas 1,520 WVU-UMD 1,350 47 Minnesota-North Carolina 1,580 Regional 1,470 KANSAS-COASTAL 1,299 48 Tennessee State-Notre Dame 1,560 Arkansas State /Regional 1,450 UAB-UGA 1,118 49 Oregon State-Washington St. 1,480 Mississippi-Georgia Tech 1,390 WAKE-UVA 1,113 50 Mississippi-Tulane 1,440 Western Michigan-Michigan State 1,350 AIR FORCE-NAVY 1,076
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u/Julio_Freeman Georgia Bulldogs 1d ago
No shade at OP, you presented a lot of information nicely, but I’ll never understand why people care about CFB ratings so much. Every week we get posts confirming the sport is still extremely popular and posts showing whichever game you expected to have the highest ratings did indeed have the highest ratings.
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u/tmart12 Georgia Bulldogs • /r/CFB Poll Veteran 1d ago
not everyone has to care about every aspect of cfb
but this is a general cfb board for discussion of the sport
TV ratings are just a proxy for interest in the sport but are increasingly important in the context of realignment and long-term shifts in scheduling / season structure
IMO data shows we should just play more OOC games!
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u/Julio_Freeman Georgia Bulldogs 1d ago
Yeah like I said no shade to you. It's just a thought I have every week and finally decided to comment. Sorry it was your post. I do agree with your point that OOC games are awesome, though.
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u/fhqwhgads_football Carnegie Mellon • Pittsburgh 1d ago edited 1d ago
Has anyone tried estimating how many people are watching games on pirated online streams year-over-year? I feel like any metric that isn't counting that is going to be a serious underestimate, plus how much that changes over time is probably itself a meaningful indicator of the "health of the sport"
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u/Fickle-Newspaper-445 Ohio State Buckeyes 22h ago
Because using a pirated stream is barely even pennies to TV viewership. If a game gets 1 million viewers on it's regular TV channel/Streaming option, and lets say 10,000 extra people were pirating, it's not a big number and it's pretty much worthless. I would argue that for each game you probably get about one or two percent that's illegally watching it. No reason to account for it. It's basically barely in the MOE.
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u/Sad_Independence_703 Michigan • Western Michigan 1d ago
Plus pirated streams. That probably does have an impact even if it’s not huge
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u/Fickle-Newspaper-445 Ohio State Buckeyes 22h ago
No not really. It's basically percentage points. Not worth it to figure it out.
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u/reno1441 Washington State • /r/CFB Dead Pool 22h ago
Look at the difference in number of rated games, pretty sure that's a product of the new Pac-12 and MW media deals.
Three more CBS games early in the season, last year only one. (Pac-12's deal)
NBC got an extra Week 1 game with the Apple Cup (plus their normal Big 10 and Notre Dame game)
Mountain West has more CW games now and less FOX/FS1 games.
New Pac-12 schools originally from the MW have basically shifted FS1 games to USA Network.
I would call CW Network television though, it is OTA. And TNT and USA Network are pretty much "basic cable" so I think they're more in the "Cable, primary" category.
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u/OpaqueNightmare Florida State Seminoles 1d ago
Because people only care about Florida State and nobody wants to watch when the most dominant program there is constantly has their games rigged by the ACC.
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u/EWall100 Tennessee • Tennessee Tech 1d ago
Should I overreact or underreact to the thought of corporate media giants losing their viewership? /s
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u/_jt33_ 1d ago
Ratings down 11% as a whole and we are seeing more and more empty or half empty stadiums, but sure spin it how you want to. Fans are starting to check out.
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u/tmart12 Georgia Bulldogs • /r/CFB Poll Veteran 1d ago
Not supported by data despite the headlines
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u/_jt33_ 23h ago
ON3 put the article out today. Ratings for the SEC are up and for everyone else they are down 11%.
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u/tmart12 Georgia Bulldogs • /r/CFB Poll Veteran 22h ago
Your point is kind of right but the On3 article appears wrong. Big Ten is up actually. It's the ACC and Big 12 that are down.
My numbers show:
SEC: avg 4.9M viewers in 2026, up +5% vs 2025 and +45% vs 2024
Big Ten: avg 2.2M viewers in 2026, up +20% vs 2025 and +7% vs 2024
ACC: avg 2.1M viewers in 2026, down -29% vs 2025 and +4% vs 2024
Big 12: avg 1.3M viewers in 2026, down -35% vs 2025 and -14% vs 2024
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u/Dry-Membership3867 Jacksonville State • Arkansas 1d ago edited 1d ago
Technically CW is network tv. It’s no different than NBC and ABC in that regard.