Perhaps predictably, the College Football Playoff semifinals saw viewership declines in the first year of the 12-team format.
According to Austin Karp of Sports Business Journal, Friday’s Cotton Bowl between Ohio State and Texas drew 20.6 million viewers across ESPN, ESPN2, and ESPNU. The prior night, Thursday’s Orange Bowl between Notre Dame and Penn State drew 17.8 million viewers across the same networks.
Ohio State’s win over Texas on Friday night drew 20.6 million viewers across ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU, well above the 17.8 million for Notre Dame-Penn State on Thursday night.
Becomes 1 of 9 CFP semifinals to draw over 20 million (out of 22 possible games dating back to 2015)
— Austin Karp (@AustinKarp) January 13, 2025
The two games declined substantially from last year’s semifinals, the final season played under the four-team format. Those games, which were contested on New Year’s Day, averaged 23.27 million viewers, marking a 17% year-over-year decline. Those two semifinal games — Michigan-Alabama in the Rose Bowl and Washington-Texas in the Sugar Bowl — averaged 27.76 million and 18.77 million viewers respectively, per Sports Media Watch.
Of course, any comparisons to last year’s playoff games are apples-to-oranges given the new format and dates. New Year’s Day is synonymous with marquee college football games, and a day many people are off of work. This year’s semifinal games were contested on weeknights on normal working days.
Even with the new schedule, the Buckeyes’ win over the Longhorns was able to crack the 20 million-viewer threshold, something only eight other CFP semifinals games had done prior, per Karp. According to Jon Lewis of Sports Media Watch, the game was the most-watched Friday television program in more than four years (Minnesota Vikings- New Orleans Saints on Christmas Day 2020).
The Cotton Bowl was good for the second-largest college football audience of the year behind Ohio State’s quarterfinal win over Oregon in the Rose Bowl which drew 21.1 million viewers.
Even with the year-over-year declines, the College Football Playoff has to be satisfied with maintaining a strong audience in the first year of the new format. As viewers become accustomed to the new schedule in future years, growth can be expected.
But for now, the tens of millions of additional viewers gained from adding playoff inventory pales in comparison to losing a few million viewers in the later rounds.
About Drew Lerner
Drew Lerner is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and an aspiring cable subscriber. He previously covered sports media for Sports Media Watch. Future beat writer for the Oasis reunion tour.