The official kickoff to the college football season did not disappoint, as millions tuned in across ESPN platforms to see major upsets, last-second thrillers and dominant performances from some of the country’s top teams. ESPN’s Nielsen-rated networks airing college football – ABC, ESPN and ESPNU – averaged 3.1 million viewers in Week 1, up 44 percent over 2023 and the largest audience for Kickoff Week across ESPN platforms since 2016.
Both ABC and ESPN were up double digits over 2023. ABC scored its most-watched Kickoff Week since 2016 and the second best on record, finishing up 83 percent year-over-year. Meanwhile, ESPN was up 23 percent for Week 1 over the 2023 edition. Saturday, Aug. 31st was the most-viewed day of college football ever on ESPN+, and Week 1 included the top 3 regular season college football games ever on the platform.
ESPN platforms scored the top six games across all networks in Week 1, hitting multi-year viewership highs in key windows. Additionally, this is the first time since Week 1 in 2016 that ESPN platforms have had six games in one weekend all surpass 4.0 million viewers.
Week 1’s Top Performers:
- USC vs. LSU | 9.2 million viewers on ABC
- ABC’s third best Sunday Opener on record and ABC’s most-streamed college football game on record
- The Modelo Vegas Kickoff Classic – an ESPN Events kickoff game – also broke the Allegiant Stadium attendance record with 63,969 fans cheering on the Trojans and the Tigers
- Notre Dame at Texas A&M | 8.2 million viewers on ABC
- Most-viewed ABC Saturday Night Football matchup in two seasons
- Clemson vs. Georgia | 8.0 million viewers on ABC
- Most-watched Week 1 noon game on record
- Miami at Florida | 6.7 million viewers on ABC
- Largest Week 1 late afternoon audience since 2017, as the new SEC on ABC franchise made its debut
- North Dakota State at Colorado | 4.8 million viewers on ESPN
- ESPN’s most-watched Thursday opener since 2017
- Boston College at Florida State | 4.4 million viewers on ESPN
College GameDay Built by The Home Depot delivered one of its most-watched regular season episodes in the 37-year history of the show. 2.5 million viewers watched as the sport’s premier pregame show made its stateside season debut in College Station, with 3.2 million viewers tuning in for the final hour. Week 1 from Aggieland is the most-watched episode to air outside of Thanksgiving Weekend and was the most-watched regular season episode since November 2016. The audience was up 47 percent year-over-year and demolished the previous Week 1 audience record by double digits.
ESPN’s social media team created more than 1,200 pieces of content across all platforms, registering 58 million engagements – up 68 percent year-over-year – and scored 554 million video views for Week 1. The team’s viral video featuring new teammates Nick Saban and Pat McAfee is College GameDay’s most-viewed TikTok ever with 24 million views and climbing, and boasts a total of 50 million views across all ESPN platforms.
–Press release via ESPN