The NFL’s competition with the College Football Playoff finished with a predictable result.
Saturday’s NFL doubleheader featuring the Houston Texans and Kansas City Chiefs at 1:00 p.m. ET on NBC and the Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens on Fox more than doubled the audience of the competing College Football Playoff games on TNT.
According to NBC Sports PR, Chiefs-Texans averaged 15.5 million viewers on Saturday, a figure that includes additional streaming data. The SMU-Penn State playoff game, which kicked off at noon ET on TNT, averaged just 6.4 million viewers.
— NBC Sports PR (@NBCSportsPR) December 24, 2024
The late afternoon window told a similar story. Fox’s broadcast of Steelers-Ravens averaged 15.4 million viewers compared to 8.6 million viewers for Clemson-Texas on TNT. Per Fox Sports PR, Steelers-Ravens was the most-watched telecast of the day on any network (presumably accounting for NBC’s inclusion of additional streaming data in its total audience delivery figure).
On Saturday, 15.4 million viewers tuned in to @NFLONFOX for the AFC North showdown between the Ravens and the Steelers — delivering the most-watched telecast of the day on any network. pic.twitter.com/jfIVUYLoee
— FOX Sports PR (@FOXSportsPR) December 24, 2024
As expected, the NFL games are way up compared to last year’s Saturday tripleheader on NFL Network. Last season’s trio of games averaged 8.82 million viewers on the league-owned cable network, making for a 75% year-over-year increase for this season’s games.
It should be noted, despite the NFL scheduling two high-wattage games on broadcast television Saturday, its viewership paled in comparison to the normal Sunday windows. Fox averaged a season-high 19.7 million viewers for its singleheader window on Sunday, which primarily featured the Philadelphia Eagles-Washington Commanders game in the 1:00 p.m. ET slot.
Sunday’s @NFLONFOX Week 16 singleheader earned 19.7 million viewers and the best performance for an NFL singleheader on any network this season. pic.twitter.com/ph1gHkDy12
— FOX Sports PR (@FOXSportsPR) December 24, 2024
The NFL’s expected ratings win will certainly raise questions around what the College Football Playoff should do in future years. The playoff committee might be better off scheduling around the behemoth that is the NFL, just as many other professional sports leagues do.
[NBC Sports PR, Fox Sports PR]
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.