College Football Ratings Are Up As Cord Cutting Continues

The 2023 college football regular season is essentially over on Saturday, and it's on track to be the sport's most successful yet.

Television ratings for college football games are up 15% year-over-year, surpassing 2015 for the most watched season ever. Even as roughly three million fewer homes have subscriptions to cable television.

And there's a few obvious, and not so obvious, reasons why.

One explanation is that while cord cutting is hitting the pay television industry hard, sports fans by and large are sticking with some sort of bundle that allows them to watch football games.

Another is that the sport at large, as well as the individual conferences, have done a better job of ensuring that big games are accessible on major networks. When the Colorado Buffaloes and Deion Sanders were the talk of college football, their games were easily findable on Fox, ESPN or other major channels.

Similarly, huge out of conference games like Alabama-Texas were on major platforms.

It is undeniably true that sports fans are more likely to keep some sort of pay television bundle. But on top of highlighting just how impressive college football's success has been, these ratings are yet another indication of just how far the NBA has fallen.

FORT WORTH, TX - SEPTEMBER 2: Head coach Deion Sanders of the Colorado Buffaloes walks the field before the game between the TCU Horned Frogs and the Colorado Buffaloes at Amon G. Carter Stadium on September 2, 2023 in Fort Worth, Texas. (Photo by Ron Jenkins/Getty Images)

NBA Not Seeing Same Ratings Increase As College Football

The same conditions, major television partners and sports fans not cutting the cord, are in place for the NBA. Yet their ratings have collapsed, with commissioner Adam Silver specifically blaming cord cutting for the decline.

READ: NBA LOOKS FOR NEW TV RIGHTS DEAL AS VIEWERSHIP TANKS

So why would cord cutting not affect college football but significantly damage the NBA?

There may be some demographic and age differences between NBA fans and college football fans that play a role. But if young basketball fans don't care enough about the sport to keep paying for cable to watch it, that's extremely concerning for the NBA.

Silver and other sports media commentators have avoided explicitly acknowledging that the league's openly hostile political stance over the past few years have permanently damaged the sport's credibility and viewership. College football, for the most part, avoided much of the polarization that the NBA adopted.

And now, football is soaring while the NBA falls. Who would have guessed?

The sport is an incredibly good place, and 2024 promises to be even bigger as interest in new conference alignment soars. Big ratings draws like Texas and Oklahoma are headed to the SEC, while USC and UCLA move to the Big Ten.

Expanded playoffs will undoubtedly lead to tougher non-conference scheduling, as teams worry less about two losses ending a season. The business of college football has never been better. Sorry Adam Silver.