North Carolina Sports Network About 20 years ago, some of the top conferences in college sports could make as much television money for their men’s basketball media rights as for their football media rights.
In 2023, every major conference makes far more money for its football product than for all of its other sports combined. According to some estimates, the value of the top leagues’ various multimedia (TV and streaming) deals with their media partners now can be attributed 80 percent (or more) to football, 19 percent to men’s basketball and one percent to all other sports combined.
In men’s basketball, the most-watched games of the regular season — the top two are often Duke at North Carolina and UNC at Duke — sometimes draw estimated audiences of more than 4 million viewers.
In football, there are at least several games that surpass the 4 million viewer threshold every week. Occasionally, there are 10 or more Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) games that surpass 4 million viewers on a single weekend.
Just last week, over the extended Thanksgiving weekend (high-profile games on Friday and Saturday), eight games topped the 4 million threshold, led by the most-watched game — by far — of the entire 2023 regular season.
Here’s the full list from last weekend: 11-0 Ohio State at 11-0 Michigan (estimated 19+ million viewers), Alabama-Auburn (9.1 million), Washington State-Washington (5.9 million), Georgia-Georgia Tech (5.3 million), Florida State-Florida (5.1 million), Iowa-Nebraska (4.4 million), Oregon State-Oregon (4.1 million) and Missouri-Arkansas (4.1 million).
During the entire 2023 regular season, 32 college football games surpassed the 5 million viewer mark. Each of those games is listed below.
Rank/Audience — Game, League(s), Week, Day, Time, Network
1. 19+ million — Ohio State-Michigan, B1G, Week 13, Sat., noon, FOX
2. 10+ million — Colorado-Oregon, Pac-12, Week 4, Sat., 3:30 pm, ABC
3. 10+ million — Ohio State-Notre Dame, B1G/Ind., Week 4, Sat., 7:30 pm, NBC
4. 10+ million — Penn State-Ohio State, B1G, Week 8, Sat., noon, FOX
5. 9.3 million — Colorado State-Colorado, MWC/Pac-12, Week 3, Sat., 10 pm, ESPN
6. 9.2 million — Florida State-LSU, ACC/SEC, Week 1, Sat., 7:30 pm, ABC
7. 9.2 million — Michigan-Penn State, B1G, Week 11, Sat., noon, FOX
8. 9.1 million — Alabama-Auburn, SEC, Week 13, Sat., 3:30 pm, CBS
9. 8.8 million — LSU-Alabama, SEC, Week 10, Sat., 7:45 pm, CBS
10. 8.8 million — Texas-Alabama, Big 12/SEC, Week 2, Sat., 7 pm, ESPN/ESPN2
11. 8.7 million — Nebraska-Colorado, B1G/Pac-12, Week 2, Sat., noon, FOX
12. 8.1 million — Tennessee-Alabama, SEC, Week 8, Sat., 3:30 pm, CBS
13. 7.9 million — Oklahoma-Texas, Big 12, Week 6, Sat., noon, ABC/ESPN2
14. 7.3 million — Colorado-TCU, Pac-12/Big 12, Week 1, Sat., noon, FOX
15. 7.2 million — USC-Colorado, Pac-12, Week 5, Sat., noon, FOX
16. 7.2 million — Alabama-Texas A&M, SEC, Week 6, Sat., 3:30 pm, CBS
17. 7.1 million — Oregon-Washington, Pac-12, Week 7, Sat., 3:30 pm, ABC
18. 7.1 million — Missouri-Georgia, SEC, Week 10, Sat., 3:30 pm, CBS
19. 6.7 million — Florida State-Clemson, ACC, Week 4, Sat., noon, ABC
20. 6.4 million — USC-Notre Dame, Pac-12/Ind., Week 7, Sat., 7:30 pm, NBC
21. 6.4 million — Georgia-Auburn, SEC, Week 5, Sat., 3:30 pm, CBS
22. 5.9 million — Georgia-Florida, SEC, Week 9, Sat., 3:30 pm, CBS
23. 5.9 million — Washington State-Washington, Pac-12, Week 13, Sat., 4 pm, FOX
24. 5.7 million — Georgia-Tennessee, SEC, Week 12, Sat., 3:30 pm, CBS
25. 5.4 million — Michigan-Maryland, B1G, Week 12, Sat., noon, FOX
26. 5.4 million — South Carolina-Georgia, SEC, Week 3, Sat., 3:30 pm, CBS
27. 5.3 million — Georgia-Georgia Tech, SEC/ACC, Week 13, Sat., 7:30 pm, ABC
28. 5.3 million — Notre Dame-Duke, Ind./ACC, Week 5, Sat., 7:30 pm, ABC
29. 5.3 million — Tennessee-Florida, SEC, Week 3, Sat., 7 pm, ESPN
30. 5.2 million — Utah-Washington, Pac-12, Week 11, Sat., 3:30 pm, FOX
31. 5.1 million — Notre Dame-Louisville, Ind./ACC, Week 6, Sat., 7:30 pm, ABC
32. 5.1 million — Florida State-Florida, ACC/SEC, Week 13, Sat., 7 pm, ESPN
Regular-Season Games
With 5 Million+ Viewers
(By Conference)
11 — Non-Conference Games
10 — SEC vs. SEC
5 — Pac-12 vs. Pac-12
4 — Big Ten vs. Big Ten
1 — ACC vs. ACC
1 — Big 12 vs. Big 12
(By School)
6 — Georgia (12-0), SEC
5 — Alabama (11-1), SEC
5 — Colorado (4-8), Pac-12 (headed to Big 12)
4 — Notre Dame (9-3), independent
3 — Florida (5-7), SEC
3 — Florida State (12-0), ACC
3 — Michigan (12-0), Big Ten
3 — Ohio State (11-1), Big Ten
3 — Tennessee (8-4), SEC
3 — Washington (12-0), Pac-12 (headed to Big Ten)
2 — Auburn (6-6), SEC
2 — LSU (9-3), SEC
2 — Oregon (11-1), Pac-12 (headed to Big Ten)
2 — Penn State (10-2), Big Ten
2 — Southern Cal (7-5), Pac-12 (headed to Big Ten)
2 — Texas (11-1), Big 12 (headed to SEC)
1 — Clemson (8-4), ACC
1 — Colorado State (5-7), MWC
1 — Duke (7-5), ACC
1 — Georgia Tech (6-6), ACC
1 — Louisville (10-2), ACC
1 — Maryland (7-5), Big Ten
1 — Missouri (10-2), SEC
1 — Nebraska (5-7), Big Ten
1 — Oklahoma (10-2), Big 12 (headed to SEC)
1 — South Carolina (5-7), SEC
1 — Texas A&M (7-5), SEC
1 — Texas Christian (5-7), Big 12
1 — Utah (8-4), Pac-12 (headed to Big 12)
1 — Washington State (5-7), Pac-12
