After Monday's College Football Playoff National Championship, the University of Georgia has a lot to celebrate - back-to-back national titles, an historic 65-7 blowout, and a textbook show of quarterbacking from MVP Stetson Bennett. But, one thing they might not be cheering are the television ratings for the big game.
Georgia’s national championship victory over TCU was the least-viewed college football playoff championship game since the BCS era began. ESPN networks averaged 17.2 million viewers ESPN announced Tuesday.
The three playoff games combined averaged 20.6 million viewers.
Before Monday’s game, Alabama’s victory over Ohio State in 2021 had been the least watched CFP or BCS game with 18.65 million viewers according to Sports Media Watch. Georgia’s 65 points on Monday were the most in the CFP and BCS title game. Not only was it the biggest blowout of an AP top-three team ever, the 58-point win is the largest margin of victory in FBS bowl history.
A big factor that potentially played into the low average of viewers was the fact the game was a blowout. It was still the most watched program Monday night across cable platforms.
It is also worth noting that the matchup could have played a role in people tuning in. Had Michigan and Ohio State advanced to the championship game, it could have produced record viewers like their regular season matchup did on Fox, with 17 million viewers. It was the most watched 2022 regular season game.