- FCS Championship Scores Second-Most-Watched Title Game on Record
The 2024-25 college football bowl season on ESPN platforms saw remarkable growth, drawing significant increases in viewership across key demographics. The 33 non-College Football Playoff bowls averaged 2.7 million viewers, marking a 14 percent year-over-year increase and the largest audience since the 2019-20 season. Gains were particularly notable among viewers aged 18-49, with a 21 percent rise in that demographic.
Fourteen of the 33 bowls achieved at least a five-year high in viewership, with five reaching ten-year highs. Notably, the Alamo Bowl attracted 8 million viewers, making it the most-watched non-CFP/New Year’s Six bowl on any network in five years. Meanwhile, the ReliaQuest Bowl drew 6.5 million viewers, earning the distinction of cable’s most-watched non-CFP bowl in nine years.
Network Notables
ESPN’s 25 games averaged 2.4 million viewers, a 15 percent year-over-year increase, with fans consuming 12.9 billion minutes of content. These games contributed to three of ESPN’s 11 most-watched days of 2024. ABC also saw impressive results, drawing its largest non-CFP bowl audience in 11 years. Across five games, ABC averaged 5.0 million viewers, a substantial 71 percent year-over-year increase.
ESPN Events Experiences Strong Season
ESPN Events’ 17 bowl games averaged 1.9 million viewers, representing a nine percent year-over-year increase. Six of these games achieved at least a five-year high in viewership, including standout performances from the Texas Bowl and the Birmingham Bowl.
Individual Game Superlatives
- Valero Alamo Bowl: 8 Million Viewers – Most-watched on record (back to 1993)
- Pop-Tarts Bowl: 8 Million Viewers – Most-watched since 2008
- ReliaQuest Bowl: 5 Million Viewers – Most-watched since 2012
- ESPN’s best non-CFP or NY6 bowl since 2015 season
- Kinder’s Texas Bowl: 2 Million Viewers – Most-watched since 2019
- AutoZone Liberty Bowl: 2 Million Viewers – Most-watched since 2015 season
- Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl: 1 Million Viewers – Most-watched since 2013
- Birmingham Bowl: 4.1 Million Viewers – Most-watched since 2014 season
- Rate Bowl: 5 Million Viewers – Most-watched since 2015 season
- Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl: 2.9 Million Viewers – Most-watched since 2017
- GameAbove Sports Bowl: 6 Million Viewers – Most-watched since 2019
- Wasabi Fenway Bowl: 1 Million Viewers – Most-watched ever
- Hawai’i Bowl: 9 Million Viewers – Most-watched since 2019
- 68 Ventures Bowl: 7 Million Viewers – Most-watched since 2018
- Scooter’s Coffee Frisco Bowl: 2 Million Viewers – Most-watched since 2019
- Bahamas Bowl Presented by Atlantis Resorts: 1 Million Viewers – Most-watched since 2016
FCS Championship Captures Banner Year
The FCS Championship between North Dakota State and Montana State averaged 2.4 million viewers on ESPN, becoming the second-most-watched FCS Championship on record for ESPN platforms, up 132 percent over the 2024 championship game. Viewership peaked with 3.1 million viewers as the Bison clinched their 10th national title. The FCS Playoffs overall averaged 1.3 million viewers across ESPN platforms, posting their best audience since 2009-10, up 49 percent year-over-year. Aside from the championship game, the semifinals drove gains; the two games on ABC were up 138 percent year-over-year and recorded the best semifinal round since 2009. The championship game is now the most-watched FCS game on record on ESPN+.
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