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More than 22 million people tuned in to watch Ohio State beat Notre Dame in the College Football Playoff national championship game on Monday night.
While that is down year-over-year, it was still the most-watched non-NFL sporting event over the past year.
ESPN released numbers from the Buckeyes’ 34-23 win over Notre Dame on Monday night, which gave them their first national championship since 2014. The game drew 22.1 million viewers on ESPN networks, and it peaked at just more than 26 million. More than half of people aged 18-49 who were watching TV on Monday night were tuned into the title game, too.
By comparison, last year’s game between Michigan and Washington drew 25 million viewers and peaked at 28 million — both of which are significantly higher than this year’s figures. Last year’s game was the most-watched championship game since 2020. The championship game in 2021 was the worst-watched at nearly 19 million.
This season marked the first in the 12-team era of the College Football Playoff, which expanded after the four-team version fans have been used to for years now. It’s unclear if the new playoff format had anything to do with the viewership numbers dropping, though the championship game was played later than normal this year as a result. The game also took place hours after President Donald Trump was inaugurated, which is something that could have easily taken attention away from the contest.
Ohio State jumped up to a 21-7 lead at halftime of the championship game, thanks to three second-quarter touchdowns, and then the Buckeyes pushed that lead with 10 quick points to start the third quarter. Though Notre Dame scored a pair of touchdowns to respond and keep it close, the Buckeyes held on down the stretch to secure the 11-point win and their sixth ever national title.
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/college-football-playoff-22-million-people-watched-ohio-states-win-over-notre-dame-down-from-last-year-220735932.html
Author : Yahoo Sports
Publish date : 2025-01-22 22:07:00
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