ESPN’s College GameDay announces historic viewership numbers for broadcast at Georgia

There was a lot of hype for this past Saturday’s matchup between Georgia and Arkansas. The No. 2 Bulldogs hosted the Razorbacks, who were ranked No. 8 at the time, in a marquee SEC matchup. That’s why ESPN’s College GameDay came to Athens to hold its show on Georgia’s campus.

The game didn’t quite live up to the lofty expectations. The Bulldogs put on a dominant performance, as they rolled to a 37-0 victory. Georgia improved to 5-0 and handed Arkansas its first loss, proving that it’s in a class with Alabama and potentially nobody else.

Although it wasn’t a thrilling game for anybody other than Bulldogs fans, the College GameDay broadcast delivered huge numbers as people were clearly excited about the slate of games.

According to ESPN, College GameDay drew 2.155 million viewers, marking its most-watched October broadcast since the show expanded to 3 hours in 2013. There were also 3 million viewers tuned in during the final hour, making it the most-watched last hour of the show since November 2018, per the network.

Week 5 of @CollegeGameDay in Athens, Ga.:

? More than 2M viewers, the most-viewed October show since CGD expanded to 3 hours

? 3M viewers in the final hour, the most-watched final hour since Nov. 2018 pic.twitter.com/xE9ebZ0vV0

— ESPN PR (@ESPNPR) October 5, 2021

Georgia has produced positive results when College GameDay has come to town in recent years, as the Bulldogs have won the past 4 times the show has been held in Athens.

Jake Rill

Jake Rill contributes to news coverage for Saturday Down South. He has covered the SEC since 2016.