Ratings and viewership rose for both College Football Playoff semifinals, with the late game doing particularly well.
Saturday’s Clemson-Ohio State Fiesta Bowl averaged an 11.1 rating and 21.15 million viewers across the ESPN family of networks, marking the highest rated and most-watched CFP semifinal not played on New Year’s Day. The previous highs were a 10.7 and 19.34 million for the Alabama-Washington Peach Bowl three years ago.
The Tigers’ narrow win increased 12% in ratings and 9% in viewership over last year’s late semifinal, Alabama-Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl, and 3% and 1% respectively from the late window two years ago, Alabama-Clemson in the Sugar Bowl on New Year’s Day (11.4, 21.47M).
Versus the previous Fiesta Bowl to host a semifinal, which also pit Clemson against Ohio State, ratings increased 13% (from 9.8) and viewership 10% (from 19.24M). That game was a 31-0 Clemson rout.
As one would expect, ratings jumped 136% and viewership 150% from last season’s Fiesta Bowl (LSU-UCF: 4.7, 8.47M) and 95% and 108% respectively from the 2017 game (Penn State-Washington: 5.7, 10.17M). It was the most-watched Fiesta Bowl since the game last hosted a national championship in 2003 (Ohio State-Miami: 29.10M), surpassing the previous mark of 20.60 million for Ohio State-Notre Dame in 2006.
Earlier in the day, the LSU-Oklahoma Peach Bowl averaged a 9.5 and 17.21 million viewers — up slightly from last year’s Clemson-Notre Dame Cotton Bowl, but down 31% and 36% respectively from the Georgia-Oklahoma Rose Bowl two years ago (13.7, 26.91M).
Compared to the previous Peach Bowl to host a semifinal, Alabama-Washington in 2016, ratings and viewership fell 11% from a 10.7 and 19.34 million.
LSU’s 35-point rout, which peaked in the first half with 18.9 million from 5:15-5:30 PM ET, delivered the third-smallest audience for a CFP semifinal. Last year’s Clemson-Notre Dame Cotton Bowl and the 2016 Clemson-Oklahoma Orange Bowl (15.73M) hold the bottom two spots.
Together, the semifinals averaged a 10.3 rating and 19.29 million viewers (+6%), ranking as the third-most watched in the history of the playoff (dates back to 2015). The two years the games took place on New Year’s Day — in the 2014-15 and 2017-18 seasons — hold the top spots.
[Nielsen estimates from ESPN]
