Updated to include full reporting of local markets for ESPN MegaCast presentation (ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU)

ESPN Delivers Record Viewership Across College Football Playoff and New Year’s Six

• CFP National Championship Presented by AT&T Scores 25 Million Viewers

• Most-Watched College Football Playoff in Six Years

• New Year’s Six Scores Best Audience Since 2019

• Non-NY6 Bowls Deliver 2.4 Million Average Viewers, On Par with 2022-23

ESPN’s premier presentation of the College Football Playoff and New Year’s Six reached multi-year viewership highs and record audience numbers across ESPN platforms. ESPN platforms’ full slate of college football bowls this season averaged 4.6 million viewers across 40 total games, up 5% year-over-year.

The complete seven-game College Football Playoff and New Year’s Six averaged 15.1 million viewers, the best in five years and fifth highest in the 10-year history of the College Football Playoff, up 12% year-over-year.

National Championship Notches Multi-Year Highs

The College Football Playoff National Championship Presented by AT&T scored 25 million viewers, with the Michigan/Washington showdown recording the best audience since the 2020 CFP National Championship (Clemson/LSU in Year 6). Viewership of Monday night’s matchup was up 45% year-over-year and 11% above 2022. The Wolverines’ first national title in nearly three decades ranks as a top 15 cable telecast all-time and the fourth-best non-NFL sports telecast since 2018. The title matchup peaked with 28 million viewers from 9-9:15 p.m. ET.

The top five local markets for ESPN’s signature MegaCast presentation on ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU were as follows: Detroit (28.4), Seattle-Tacoma (22.1), Birmingham (20.4), Columbus (20.4) and Greenville-Spartanburg-Asheville (19.2).

College Football Playoff Most-Watched Since 2018

The three-game College Football Playoff was the most-watched in six years (since Year 4) and third best of the CFP era, delivering 23.6 million viewers and 15% year-over-year audience growth across the trio of games. The CFP Semifinals drew their best audience in six years and third-highest of the CFP era, propelling ESPN to its fourth most-watched day in history. Nearly 10 million viewers watched across both ESPN and ESPN2 in the average minute throughout New Year’s Day. The two-game semifinal average was up 4% year-over-year, with the games attracting their highest share of viewing on record.

The Rose Bowl Game Presented by Prudential and the Allstate Sugar Bowl reached nearly 50 million viewers, and 36% of total viewers and 52% of P18-49 viewers who were watching TV during the games were tuned in to the Semifinals, a record high share for the semifinals in the 10 years of the CFP era.

New Year’s Six Scores Best Audience Since 2019

The 2023-24 New Year’s Six averaged 13.5 million viewers, its best audience in five years and fifth highest in the 10-year history of the CFP. Viewership was up 5% over the 2022-23 edition and among P18-49 viewers, the six games delivered 4.4 million viewers, up 3% year-over-year.

College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Rose Bowl Game Presented by Prudential: 27.7M

• Most-watched Semifinal since Year 1 and third best of CFP era

• Top non-NFL sports telecast since 2018 and a top 10 telecast in cable history

• Up 28% from early Semifinal last year (TCU/Michigan)

College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Allstate Sugar Bowl: 18.7M

• Fourth best Sugar Bowl since 2004

Capital One Orange Bowl: 10.4M

• Best non-Semifinal Orange Bowl since 2017

• Up 2% from Penn State/Utah in similar window last year

• Most-streamed college football game ever on ESPN+

Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic: 9.7M

• Best standalone primetime NY6 game since 2016

• Up 12% from Tennessee/Clemson in similar window last year

• 2nd most-streamed college football game ever on ESPN+

Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl: 7.8M

• 3rd most-streamed college football game ever on ESPN+

Vrbo Fiesta Bowl: 4.7M

• Up +12% from Tulane/USC in similar window last year

Non-New Year’s Six Bowls Bring Viewers In

ESPN’s Bowl Season presentation scored 2.4 million viewers across 33 games. 28 matchups surpassed one million viewers, with 19 drawing 2 million viewers and nine topping 3 million viewers. 11 games reached multi-year highs, with the following becoming the most-watched non-NY6 bowl games of the season:

• Citrus Bowl: 6.8M

o Best since 2019-20

• ReliaQuest Bowl: 4.6M

o Best since 2017-18

o ESPN2’s most-watched sports event since 2018

• Pop-Tarts Bowl: 4.3M

• Valero Alamo Bowl: 3.9M

• Duke’s Mayo Bowl: 3.8M

o Best since 2016-17

Digital Touts All-Time Traffic

ESPN.com experienced Semifinal surges of its own during the CFP. There were 4.6 million unique visitors to college football content on ESPN.com on New Year’s Day, with Alabama and Michigan squaring off in the Rose Bowl Game becoming the top college football Gamecast of the year.

FCS Playoffs Post Overall Viewership Gains

The 2024 FCS Championship between Montana and South Dakota State averaged just over one million viewers on ABC, on par with last year’s audience.

The FCS Playoffs averaged 845,000 viewers across ESPN linear platforms, up 3% year-over-year, driven by the quarterfinals and featuring the round’s second-best game on record as Villanova and eventual champion South Dakota State delivered 1.8 million viewers.

The FCS Championship on ESPN+ tripled its audience over the 2023 championship and now ranks as the most-watched FCS game ever on ESPN+.