Duke-MSU Champions Classic Ratings Up Nearly 40%

A matchup of the nation’s top two teams lifted Champions Classic ratings Tuesday night.

Duke-Michigan State had a 1.8 rating and 3.0 million viewers in the first game of Tuesday’s Champions Classic college basketball doubleheader, up 38% in ratings and viewership from Kentucky-Michigan State last year (1.3, 2.2M).

The Blue Devils’ win delivered the fifth-largest audience in the history of the Champions Classic (14 telecasts dating back to 2011). Duke has played in four of the top five.

Later in the night, Kentucky-Kansas scored a 1.7 and 2.7 million — up 13% and 9% respectively from last year’s Kansas-Duke game (1.5, 2.4M).

Overall, Tuesday’s doubleheader averaged 2.8 million viewers (+27%). It was the second-most watched Champions Classic behind 2013.

Neither game averaged as large an audience as the College Football Playoff ranking show, which had a 2.3 rating and 3.8 million during the doubleheader’s intermission. ESPN did not release peak data for Tuesday’s games, so it was not immediately clear whether the rankings show was ESPN’s top half-hour of the night.

Tuesday’s numbers were a marked turnaround from Friday’s opening night. ESPN scored 710,000 viewers for its Texas A&M-West Virginia opener — down 42% from Arizona-Michigan State last year (1.2M). The Texas A&M-UCLA nightcap had 770,000.

ESPN’s Nielsen ratings now include streaming viewership on television; all comparisons are to last year’s TV+streaming numbers.

Champions Classic Ratings, Viewership

[Tue. numbers via Programming Insider 11.15, ESPN PR 11.15, ShowBuzz Daily 11.14]