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ESPN announced that the overnight ratings for the inaugural College Football Playoff semifinal doubleheader on Thursday, were the highest ever for a non-championship game on ESPN or ABC.
The Rose Bowl averaged a 15.5 metered-market rating while the Sugar Bowl posted a 15.3 overnight rating.
Both games were also the highest-rated New Year’s Day college football games on an ESPN network ever.
It was a 38 percent, and 125 percent increase, respectively, over those time slots last year
Birmingham was the top market for both broadcasts, averaging a 39.6 rating for the Rose Bowl and a 50.2 for the Sugar Bowl.
For the Rose Bowl, Portland was the second highest-rated metered market with a 30.8 rating followed by Columbus (29.8), Dayton (26.7), Knoxville (25.1), Jacksonville (24.0), Greenville (23.9), Tampa-St. Petersburg (23.4), Atlanta (21.3) and Orlando (20.7).
Sugar Bowl: Columbus was the second highest-rated metered market with a 43.7 rating followed by Dayton (38.7), Cleveland (32.5), New Orleans (25.0), Nashville (24.6), Memphis (23.9), Atlanta (23.4), Knoxville (23.3) and Cincinnati (22.8).
UPDATE: The first two games of the inaugural College Football Playoff attracted the largest two audiences in cable television history:
According to Nielson, the Rose Bowl averaged 28,164,000 viewers (P2+), based on a 14.8 rating, while the Sugar Bowl averaged 28,271,000 viewers, based on a 15.2 rating.
Christopher Walsh has covered Alabama football since 2004 and is the author of 19 books. In his free time, he writes about college football.
