With neither game in doubt, overnight ratings for the College Football Playoff fell to New Year’s Eve levels.
Saturday’s Alabama-Oklahoma Orange Bowl delivered a 10.4 overnight rating on ESPN and ESPN2, down 17% from last season’s Sugar Bowl (Alabama-Clemson: 12.5) and down a tick from the 2016 Fiesta Bowl (Clemson-Ohio State: 10.5). Compared to the last Orange Bowl to host a semifinal, overnights increased 6% from 2015 (Clemson-Oklahoma: 9.8).
Earlier in the day, the Clemson-Notre Dame Cotton Bowl scored a 10.3 — down 30% from last season’s Rose Bowl (Georgia-Oklahoma: 14.8) and down 10% from the 2016 Peach Bowl (Alabama-Washington: 11.5). Compared to the last Cotton Bowl to host a playoff semifinal, overnights increased 3% from 2015 (Alabama-Michigan State: 10.0).
Last year’s games aired on New Year’s Day and the 2015 and 2016 games on New Year’s Eve. This year’s semifinals were the first to take place outside of the New Year’s holiday, a move made to avoid the disproportionately low ratings of New Year’s Eve.
Saturday’s games generated the third and fourth-lowest overnights in College Football Playoff history (10 telecasts). Only the 2015 semis were lower.
The lopsided scores had a significant impact on the ratings, with overnights peaking during the first half of both games. Clemson-Notre Dame topped out at an 11.2 from 5:30-5:45 PM ET and Alabama-Oklahoma at an 11.8 from 8:30-8:45. Clemson and Alabama led by as many as 20 and 28 points, respectively, during the first half.
Though low for the playoff, overnight ratings hit multi-year highs for the respective bowls. The Cotton Bowl’s 10.4 overnight ranks as the highest for that game since at least 1996. The Orange Bowl’s 10.3 is the highest for that game since 2006 (Penn State-Florida State: 12.5).
Notably, neither semifinal could match the Alabama-Georgia SEC Championship Game on CBS earlier this month (10.5).
Birmingham, Ala., led all markets for both semifinals (and the Peach Bowl earlier in the day), with a 51.3 for Alabama-Oklahoma and a 31.3 for Clemson-Notre Dame. Tulsa (31.5 and 19.0), Oklahoma City (30.7 and 19.7) and Greenville, S.C. (23.3 and 26.4) also cracked the top five for both games.
Columbus, Ohio, ranked in the top ten for both games, with a 20.2 for the Orange Bowl and an 18.9 for the Cotton Bowl. So too did Atlanta, with a 17.4 for the Orange and a 15.9 for the Cotton. Ohio State and Georgia were both left out of the playoff field.
[Numbers from ESPN PR 12.30]
