Ohio State-Notre Dame CFP Title Game Ratings Take A Dip Compared To Last Season, But Still Draw A Big Number

The highly anticipated college football playoff title game between Ohio State and Notre Dame that capped off the first ever 12-team format drew some pretty huge television ratings, but were still down compared to last season's championship. 

In a release on Wednesday, ESPN posted that the Buckeyes-Fighting Irish title game drew 22.1 million viewers. Overall, that number was actually down compared to last season's Michigan-Washington title game that drew 25.05 million viewers. 

There were high expectations for playoff committee members and ESPN that this matchup between two highly touted teams would out-draw the number from last season. While that did not turn out to be the case, network executives still have to be pleased with the ratings. 

While there will obviously be questions about how to attract more viewers moving forward, the game did peak at 26.1 million viewers between 8:30 and 8:45 on Monday night. This was also the most-watched non-NFL sporting event over the past year, ESPN announced. 

So, what were some of the factors that led to a decrease this season? I think there was some fatigue from College Football fans heading into the final game of the year. Yes, there was the ongoing coverage of President Donald Trump's inauguration, but coverage of that had pretty much ended by the time both teams took the field. 

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There will obviously be conversations about the timing, with it being late in January, along with still being played on a Monday night. The one surprise for me was that with this being played on a federal holiday (Martin Luther King Day), i did think the number would be higher, given a lot of the country was at home, or at least had the time to watch. 

And if you were wondering, this will not affect the playoff from expanding to 14-teams in the future, given that there is more money to be made in the future with this new contract. It did feel like heading into Monday night's game that there was a lack of excitement surrounding the game, but it's still college football, with two teams that are well-known nationally. 

ATLANTA - Notre Dame Fighting Irish quarterback Riley Leonard (13) passes the ball against the Ohio State Buckeyes during the second half the CFP National Championship college football game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Jan. 20, 2025. Photo: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Also, with as much coverage as Ohio State had been getting after losing to Michigan, there were plenty of storylines surrounding the Buckeyes. For Notre Dame, the brand will sell itself, and it helped that Marcus Freeman had become a major topic of conversation with this turnaround in South Bend. 

There will be continued conversations about how to improve this number going forward, but I would imagine the folks at Disney-ESPN are pleased with what transpired on Monday night, especially when Notre Dame put together a comeback to make it a one-score game late in the fourth quarter. 

Overall, while the NFL rules the world, college football continues to prove it can provide the entertainment needed to pull in some pretty massive numbers.