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ABC announces 2nd-highest ‘Kickoff Saturday’ ratings in network history
By Sydney Hunte
Published:
ABC hauled in a massive audience for its Week 1 college football tripleheader on Saturday.
According to ESPN, Georgia vs. Clemson, Miami at Florida, and Notre Dame at Texas A&M collectively averaged 7.6 million viewers, the second-most-watched Week 1 matchups in the network’s history.
Georgia’s win over Clemson in the Aflac Kickoff in Atlanta gained 7.9 million viewers, peaking at 9.5 million. It was the highest-ever-rated noon ET kickoff game for ABC.
The Miami-Florida in-state rivalry, the network’s inaugural SEC on ABC game, brought in 6.6 million viewers. That’s the highest-rated game in the late afternoon window since the 2017 season.
Finally, Notre Dame’s victory over Texas A&M had 8.2 million viewers, with a peak of 9.3 million. Not only was it ABC’s highest-rated Saturday night game since 2022, but more people streamed it than any other college football game in ABC’s history.
ABC’s Week 2 schedule will feature Oklahoma State vs. Arkansas in the noon ET slot, while South Carolina at Kentucky is the 3:30 ET game. Tennessee visits NC State for the 7:30 ET matchup.
https://twitter.com/ESPNPR/status/1830343806153371780
Sydney is an Atlanta-based journalist who has covered everything from SEC and ACC football to MLS, the U.S. men's national soccer team and professional tennis. His work has appeared on such platforms as SB Nation, Cox Media Group and FanSided.
