Rose Bowl Draws 21+ Million Viewers, Biggest Audience Of College Football Season

There have been some concerns surrounding the 12-team college football playoff this year. Issues regarding both seeding and competitive balance have been brought to the forefront, and we could see some adjustments made to next year’s festivities. But based on the viewership numbers during the quarterfinal games this past week, it will be hard to argue with the popularity of the game broadcasts.

College Football: 21.1 Million Viewers Tune In To Watch Rose Bowl

The matchup between Texas and Arizona State on Wednesday wound up being one of the best college football games of the entire season, but that wasn’t the marquee game of the day in terms of eyeballs. Instead, it was the second and final game of the day between Oregon and Ohio State that wound up setting viewership records.

The game itself wasn’t as entertaining as the first matchup of the day. After Texas and Arizona State fought into double overtime in order to decide a winner, Ohio State was dominant in their efforts. The Buckeyes were able to jump out to a 34-0 lead before the first half expired, and wound up leaving the Rose Bowl with a 41-21 victory over the Ducks.

Despite the lopsided score, there were a record number of viewers that tuned in. The game on ESPN drew an average of 21.1 million viewers throughout the broadcast, which was the highest number of any college football game of the season. In fact, it was the largest audience for a non-NFL sporting event since last year’s National Championship game between Michigan and Washington.

The Rose Bowl averaged 21.1 million viewers on ESPN, making it the most-watched non-NFL sporting event since last year’s national championship.@PatMcAfeeShow‘s AltCast also had 2.4 million viewers — ESPN’s most-watched AltCast ever (for any sport).

Those are huge numbers. pic.twitter.com/wFIwcbCSlR

— Joe Pompliano (@JoePompliano) January 4, 2025

While the main broadcast produced impressive numbers, there was an added audience via an alternate telecast. Talk show star Pat McAfee held an AltCast for the event on Wednesday night as well, which brought in another 2.4 million viewers during the late window and set a record of its own. It marked the highest number of viewers for an ESPN AltCast ever, for any sport, beating out even the long-running ManningCast that airs during most Monday Night Football games.

There are still three playoff games to be played before one team is crowned a national champion, meaning that there are three more chances for the NCAA to set new viewership marks. Last year’s final game between Michigan and Washington drew an average of 25 million viewers, which could be eclipsed depending on the matchup that we get for the contest set to be played on Monday, January 20th.

The first semi-final game between Notre Dame and Penn State will take place on Thursday, January 9th, with Ohio State and Texas meeting the following day.