It was not as big a draw as the Rose Bowl, but college football’s national championship game nonetheless hit a four-year high.
Monday’s Michigan-Washington College Football Playoff National Championship averaged a 12.3 rating and 25.05 million viewers across ESPN (24.28M), ESPN2 (596K), ESPNU (150K) and ESPN Deportes (30K), up 41% in ratings and 45% in viewership from Georgia’s 58-point rout of TCU last year (17.22M) and the highest rated and most-watched title game since LSU-Clemson in 2020 (14.3, 25.59M).
The Wolverines’ win, which peaked with 28 million viewers from 9-9:15 PM ET, delivered the second-largest audience of the college football season — trailing only Michigan-Alabama in the Rose Bowl a week earlier (27.76M). In the four years since Nielsen began including out-of-home viewing in its final nationals, the national title game has trailed a semifinal three times.
Overall, Michigan played in the three most-watched games of the season, with their regular season matchup with Ohio State placing third (19.07M).
Going beyond college football, the title game ranks fourth in viewership among all non-NFL sportscasts since 2018. Michigan has played in two of the top four, with their Rose Bowl win holding the top spot.
The title game averaged a combined 6.8 rating in adults 18-49, up 40% from last year and the highest since ’20 (7.7).
The full, three-game College Football Playoff averaged 23.6 million viewers — up 15% from last year and the highest average since the 2017-18 season. Including the non-playoff New Year’s Six bowls (13.5M, +5%), the full, seven-game CFP package averaged 15.1 million (+12%), the highest since 2018-19.
The 40 college football bowl games on the ESPN networks averaged a 2.4 rating and 4.63 million viewers, marking a 5% increase in viewership over last year. Including games on other networks — FOX, CBS and The CW carried one bowl each — the complete 43-game bowl season averaged a 2.3 and 4.48 million.
College Football National Championship Viewership
