17
- My Forums
- Tiger Rant
- LSU Recruiting
- SEC Rant
- Saints Talk
- Pelicans Talk
- More Sports Board
- Fantasy Sports
- Golf Board
- Soccer Board
- O-T Lounge
- Tech Board
- Home/Garden Board
- Outdoor Board
- Health/Fitness Board
- Movie/TV Board
- Book Board
- Music Board
- Political Talk
- Money Talk
- Fark Board
- Gaming Board
- Travel Board
- Food/Drink Board
- Ticket Exchange
- TD Help Board
Customize My Forums- View All Forums
- Show Left Links
- Topic Sort Options
- Trending Topics
- Recent Topics
- Active Topics
Started By
Message
College Football Viewership Down 11% Through September vs. 2025
Posted on 9/30/26 at 1:09 pm
Posted on 9/30/26 at 1:09 pm
Surprising, I must admit
Loading Twitter/X Embed...
If tweet fails to load, click here. quote:
College football TV ratings are down double-digits through the first month of the season.
FBS game broadcasts are averaging 1.7 million viewers across all Nielsen-rated networks, which is down 11% compared to the first four weeks of the 2025 season, according to audience measurement data Nielsen provided to Front Office Sports.
Texas’s 24-23 comeback victory over Ohio State in Week 2 is the most-watched game of the season so far, drawing 14 million viewers on ABC, making it the most-watched regular-season matchup on an ESPN platform in a decade. But only one other game has topped 10 million viewers: Ole Miss’s 32-24 win over LSU in Lane Kiffin’s return to Oxford on Sept. 19.
Last season, four games in Week 1 alone topped 10 million viewers, led by an opening-weekend record audience of 16.6 million on Fox for Texas–Ohio State in Columbus, which was Arch Manning’s biggest start to date.
In 2025, 11 regular-season games topped 10 million viewers.
quote:
The next two months could bring viewership gains for the 2026 season, though, as the SEC and Big Ten get into the heart of their conference schedules primarily on ABC and Fox, respectively. NBC will air No. 3 Miami vs. No. 4 Notre Dame on Nov. 7; last year’s matchup in South Florida that drew 10.8 million viewers on ABC was in Week 1.
Posted on 9/30/26 at 1:13 pm to RLDSC FAN
SEC up, everyone else down
Posted on 9/30/26 at 1:20 pm to OU Guy
Not that surprising to me. Outside of OSU-UT, there just have not been a lot of great OOC games. Blame the B1G and ACC for their incredibly soft schedules. Almost all of them have been blowouts in tune-up games.
Posted on 9/30/26 at 1:23 pm to medium_okra
quote:
Almost all of them have been blowouts in tune-up games.
The SEC nonconference schedule has been mostly shite like it always is.
They are already dangling the "our schedule is so tough because of 9 games so we are too injured" excuse.
Posted on 9/30/26 at 1:24 pm to RLDSC FAN
Big 10 dog shite schedule for September a big part of it.
Posted on 9/30/26 at 1:30 pm to RohanGonzales
quote:
The SEC nonconference schedule has been mostly shite like it always is
Texas - OSU
LSU - Clemson
Bama - FSU
There’s NO way to know a school will be down when these games are scheduled
Posted on 9/30/26 at 1:32 pm to RLDSC FAN
The schedule has been pretty weak generally and we’ve had network games like USC v Rutgers.
This doesn’t really surprise me at all. The actual good games have still done huge ratings
This doesn’t really surprise me at all. The actual good games have still done huge ratings
Posted on 9/30/26 at 1:43 pm to RLDSC FAN
As long as these young athletes are being fairly compensated, that’s all that matters.
Posted on 9/30/26 at 1:45 pm to RohanGonzales
quote:
The SEC nonconference schedule has been mostly shite like it always is.
Every SEC team has a P4 non-conference opponent on the schedule.
Meanwhile, the B1G has 5 teams that won't play a P4 non-conference game this year.
Indiana hasn't played a P4 non-conference opponent since 2023 and their non-conference schedule is already fully set through 2029 with zero P4 teams on it.
Posted on 9/30/26 at 1:48 pm to medium_okra
This past weekend was the first with an actual good slate of games
It's been really bad outside of a handful of games before then
Watching some videos of prior CFB seasons from the 00s, one thing that stuck out to me was how many amazing OOC games we had before the shitshow that exists now
It's been really bad outside of a handful of games before then
Watching some videos of prior CFB seasons from the 00s, one thing that stuck out to me was how many amazing OOC games we had before the shitshow that exists now
Posted on 9/30/26 at 1:57 pm to RLDSC FAN
you mean the big ten noon kickoff between indiana and north texas didn't get a great rating lol
Posted on 9/30/26 at 2:01 pm to RLDSC FAN
I liked college football. Not as big a fan of minor league football.
Posted on 9/30/26 at 2:04 pm to Thomp
quote:
Big 10 dog shite schedule for September a big part of it.
2026 is no different than previous years
Posted on 9/30/26 at 2:05 pm to RLDSC FAN
Meanwhile college gameday just set record highs for the 4th week in a row. The schedule has just been worse through the first few weeks this year compared to last year.
Posted on 9/30/26 at 2:08 pm to RLDSC FAN
Honestly, I think the biggest difference is no massive Notre Dame match ups.
Last year they played Miami and A&M in the first three weeks.
Last year they played Miami and A&M in the first three weeks.
Posted on 9/30/26 at 2:11 pm to Dawgsontop34
quote:
Honestly, I think the biggest difference is no massive Notre Dame match ups.
Last year they played Miami and A&M in the first three weeks
Yeah, that notre dame miami game was the 4th highest all year with 10.8 million viewers.
Also last year lsu - clemson did 10.4 million compared to 5.8 million this year with clemson being unranked and a blowout that people probably turned off early if they weren't LSU fans.
This post was edited on 9/30/26 at 2:14 pm
Posted on 9/30/26 at 2:18 pm to sgallo3
The game was also delayed 2+ hours.
I would bet the SEC on ABC ratings are trending to normal. The BIG is probably where these ratings are failing if I was a betting man.
I would bet the SEC on ABC ratings are trending to normal. The BIG is probably where these ratings are failing if I was a betting man.
Posted on 9/30/26 at 2:22 pm to RLDSC FAN
Shocking!
Posted on 9/30/26 at 2:27 pm to RohanGonzales
quote:
The SEC nonconference schedule has been mostly shite like it always is.
I'm gonna go out on a limb and say the SEC has played more P4 non conference games than the Big10
And I don't think anyone watches the bottom half of the Big 10 anyway
Posted on 9/30/26 at 2:28 pm to RLDSC FAN
quote:
Texas’s 24-23 comeback victory over Ohio State in Week 2 is the most-watched game of the season so far, drawing 14 million viewers on ABC, making it the most-watched regular-season matchup on an ESPN platform in a decade.
Still over two million fewer viewers than last year's game. And last year's match kicked off at noon while this year's was in prime time.
This post was edited on 9/30/26 at 2:31 pm
Page 1 of 2
Popular
Back to top
Follow TigerDroppings for LSU Football News