CFP nationwide championship recreation averaged 22.1 million viewers, drop from 2024 title recreation – USA TODAY

The primary nationwide championship recreation of the 12-team College Football Playoff period, performed between Ohio State and Notre Dame, delivered in some ways — together with TV viewership scores.
In line with ESPN on Wednesday, Monday’s national championship game averaged 22.1 million viewers, making it not solely the most-watched recreation of the CFP, but additionally the most-watched non-NFL sporting occasion previously 12 months.
The Buckeyes‘ 34-23 victory over the Fighting Irish peaked at 26.1 million viewers between 8:30 p.m. ET and eight:45 p.m. ET, which per the Associated Press got here within the second quarter when the sport was even at 7-7 apiece.
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Nevertheless, Monday evening’s recreation — which featured a “megacast” throughout the ESPN community — noticed a major drop from the 2024 CFP championship recreation between Michigan and Washington. The Ohio State-Notre Dame contest noticed a 12.5% drop from the Wolverines beating the Huskies in final season’s title recreation, which averaged 25 million viewers.
The 22.1 million viewers who tuned into watch Will Howard, Jeremiah Smith and the Buckeyes finish their 10-year nationwide championship drought marked the third-lowest viewers of the previous 11 CFP title video games.
With its victory on Monday, Ohio State secured its ninth national championship and second CFP title in program historical past. Ryan Day joined a category of simply 5 former Buckeye coaches — Paul Brown, Woody Hayes, Jim Tressel and City Meyer — to win a nationwide championship in Columbus.
The Buckeyes completed because the No. 1 staff within the nation within the final US LBM Coaches Poll on Tuesday, with the Irish behind at No. 2.
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