IRVING, Texas (May 15, 2018) – The National Football Foundation (NFF) & College Hall of Fame highlighted today numerous powerful facts from the 2017 college football season that emphasize the strong popularity of college football among millions of fans across the country, including the 56 percent of U.S. adults who cited themselves in a Gallup Poll as college football fans, a two percent increase from 2011 and more than professional baseball, basketball, hockey and soccer. Additionally, excluding the combined numbers for Olympic Sports, college football ranks second in core fans behind only the NFL, and the sport’s fan base grew by 1.4 million people in 2017, according to media outlets.
“College football will celebrate its 150th anniversary in 2019, and our sport has certainly come a long way from several hundred spectators lining a wooden fence to watch the first game in 1869,” said NFF President & CEO
Steve Hatchell. “We saw a big shift this year in the metrics and how things are measured with the adaptation of total live audience numbers by several media outlets. The need for the switch highlights that fans truly are reveling in the vision of college football anytime, anywhere and on any screen.
“The networks, as well as the colleges, conferences and bowls, all deserve high praise as innovators who continue to break new ground within an ever-changing high-tech landscape. There is no doubt that college football fans everywhere are the big winners with options galore, thanks to the creativity and commitment of the leaders of our sport.”
The top highlights include:
Second Most Watched Event in Cable TV History
- The 2018 College Football Playoff (CFP) National Championship Presented by AT&T between Georgia and Alabama on ESPN delivered the second biggest audience in cable television history, solidifying the College Football Playoff's place in history as a ratings juggernaut with the four biggest TV audiences in cable history and seven of the top 10. This year’s game produced a total live audience* of 29,932,000 viewers. The inaugural CFP game on ESPN in 2015 between Ohio State and Oregon remains No. 1 with 33,395,000 viewers.
- The seven CFP games on ESPN, covering the New Year’s Six and the CFP National Championship, averaged a total live audience* of more than 17 million viewers, making it the best ever in the four years of the new system. The average marked a 10 percent increase from last year and 25 percent from the 2015 season. The seven games also averaged a 9.8 overnight, also the best ever in the four years of the new system and up 5 percent from last year.
- The 355 college football telecasts on ABC, beIN Sports, CBS, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, FOX, FS1, FS2, NBC and NBCSN during the 2017 regular season averaged 1,942,000 viewers per game while reaching more than 200 million unique fans†.
- The 39 postseason college bowl games on ABC, CBS, ESPN, ESPN2, FOX and FS1 at the conclusion of the 2017 season averaged 5,308,000 viewers per game (representing an 8 percent increase over last season and a 3 percent increase from two years ago) while reaching 122 million unique fans† on television. (The figures include the Air Force Reserve Celebration Bowl, which was played at the FCS level, but not the AutoNation Cure Bowl and the Nova Home Loans Arizona Bowl, both telecast on CBSSN, which is not rated by Nielsen Media.)
NCAA Programs Attract More Than 47.6 Million Fans:
The 666 NCAA football programs (FBS, FCS, DII and DIII) drew
47,622,196 fans at home games, neutral-site games and postseason games in 2017, according to the
annual NCAA report. The number represents a 3.3 percent drop from the 2016 season, but it also represents a 29.2 percent increase since 1997 and a 148.9 percent increase from the 19,134,159 fans that the NCAA reported when they first started collecting attendance figures in 1948*.
The
40 FBS bowl games this season (including the CFP National Championship, but excluding the Air Force Reserve Celebration Bowl at the FCS level)
attracted 1,620,253 spectators to the stands (40,506 per contest). The Top Ten bowls all had attendance in excess of 57,000 fans, and eight bowl games saw increases of more than 4,000 fans.
The game has benefited enormously from the commitment of every major media sports outlet, including the ABC, beIN Sports, Big Ten Network, BYUtv, CBS, CBS Sports Network, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN Classic, ESPN3, ESPNEWS, ESPNU, FOX, FS1, FS2, FOX College Sports, FOX Deportes, FOX Sports Net, Longhorn Network, NBC, NBC Sports Network, Pac-12 Networks, Root Sports, SEC Network, Stadium and multiple regional and local outlets. Throughout the regular and bowl seasons, these outlets continue to capitalize on college football’s ever-increasing popularity to produce an increasingly dynamic product that engages fans on new levels.
Regular Season Attendance Highlights
- The overall attendance for NCAA football games across all divisions (FBS, FCS, Division II and Division III) drew 47,622,196 fans at home games, neutral-site games and postseason games in 2017. The number represents a 3.3 percent drop from the 2016 season, but it also represents a 29.2 percent increase since 1997 and a 148.9 percent increase since 1948 when the NCAA began collecting attendance reports.
- The Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) drew 36,632,625 spectators for an average of 42,203 fans per game. The Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) pulled in 5,509,277 fans for an average of 8,223, followed by Division II with 2,975,145 for a 3,273 average and Division III with 2,305,716 for a 1,873 average.
- The SEC led all FBS conferences in attendance for the 20th straight year, averaging 75,074 fans per game or a total of 7,357,228 in 2017, followed by the Big Ten (66,227), Big 12 (56,852), Pac-12 (49,601) and the ACC (48,442).
- Michigan led all FBS schools again with an average attendance of 111,589 fans per home game in 2017. Three other schools also averaged more than 100,000 fans per game: Ohio State (107,495), Penn State (106,707) and Alabama (101,722). Rounding out the 2017 Top Ten leaders for average home team attendance were: Texas A&M (98,802); LSU (98,506); Tennessee (95,779); Texas (92,778); Georgia (92,746); and Nebraska (89,798).
- Other universities with more than 80,000 fans per home game included Florida (86,715); Oklahoma (86,520); Auburn (86,446); and Clemson (80,773).
- Michigan has led the nation in attendance for 41 of the past 43 seasons. (The two breaks occurred with a No. 3 ranking in 2014 and No. 2 ranking in 1997.) The Wolverines have now played before 100,000-plus fans for a record 279 straight home games, a streak that extends back to Nov. 8, 1975.
- Ohio State led the nation for total fan attendance, attracting 1,254,160 spectators to all of their games in 2017, including home, away, neutral and postseason tilts. Eleven other teams eclipsed the million mark in 2017: Georgia (1,246,201), Alabama (1,228,376), Auburn (1,162,955), Penn State (1,146,641), Michigan (1,140,358), LSU (1,114,205), Texas A&M (1,093,368), Oklahoma (1,054,046), Tennessee (1,043,298), Clemson (1,016,347) and Texas (1,000,818).
- Nebraska continued its streak of an NCAA record 361 consecutive home sellouts, a stretch that dates back to Nov. 3, 1962, at Memorial Stadium. The stadium has a current capacity of 85,458, and the Huskers averaged 89,798 at its home games during the 2017 season for a total attendance of 628,583 at seven games. Notre Dame holds the second longest sellout streak, which started in 1974, continuing through the 2017 season and now at 262 games.
- The top 10 FBS schools with the largest increases in attendance all averaged more than 4,200 additional fans per game with Purdue leading the way with 13,433 additional fans at each game, followed by Akron (9,232), Florida Atlantic (8,875), New Mexico State (8,694), Penn State (6,450), Iowa State (5,374), Fresno State (5,139), Colorado State (4,462), Washington (4,233) and Southern California (4,224).
- The top 10 FBS schools with the largest percentage increases in attendance included New Mexico State (91.1%); Akron (89.3%); Florida Atlantic (88.1%), Purdue (38.9%); Ball State (27.1%); Kent State (20.9%); Fresno State (20.16%); Colorado State (16.2%); North Texas (12.5%); and Boston College (11.7%).
- Florida Atlantic, which notched its first winning season since 2008, attracted 125,588 attendees over seven games for an average of 17,941 per game, both single-season high water marks for the school.
- Penn State recorded a 6.4 percent increase in home attendance for the 2017 season, including the largest crowd in Beaver Stadium history with 110,823 fans attending the Oct. 21 game against Michigan. The 2017 attendance total of 746,946 and 106,707 average per game ranked as the highest for a seven-game home schedule since 2009 and the seventh-best average in school history.
- Iowa State set a new school attendance record with 347,586 fans attending its six home games for a 57,931 average or 10.2 percent increase over 2016.
- Colorado State set a school record, averaging 32,062 fans for its six home games at a new $220 million on-campus stadium, which has a total capacity of 41,200.
- Southern California, which saw a 5.8 percent increase in the number of fans attending its home games in 2017, attracted an average of 72,683 spectators to the Coliseum for seven games. The Trojans produced a season-high crowd of 84,714 during a 27-24 overtime win against Texas on Sept. 16, a mark that eclipsed the combined crowds for the NFL’s Rams (56,612) and Chargers (25,381), who both played in Los Angeles the same weekend.
- Troy set a single-season attendance record for the second consecutive year, averaging 24,456 fans during its six home games or a 9 percent increase from last year and 46 percent above the 2015 average. The home opener between Troy and Alabama State drew a record crowd of 29,278, and the season saw a record 146,736 attend games.
- North Texas attracted more fans (134,174) in 2017 than any of the previous seven seasons that Apogee Stadium has been open. Average attendance equaled 22,362, eclipsing the previous record of 21,030 set during the 2013 season. North Texas had three of its top six crowds ever.
- Appalachian State attracted a record crowd of 35,126 to Kidd Brewer Stadium for Wake Forest's first-ever trip to Boone, N.C.
- Old Dominion sold-out season tickets for the ninth-straight season. After reinstating football in 2009, Old Dominion is the only Division I program to sell out every home game it has ever played, attracting 120,708 fans to six home games in 2017.
The Dr Pepper ACC Football Championship Game sold out at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, N.C., drawing a crowd of 74,372 to watch No. 1 Clemson defeat No. 7 Miami (Fla.), 38-3. The seven previous ACC Football Championship Games have averaged more than 70,000 fans per game, including four sellouts.
- Liberty University, which will play in the Football Bowl Subdivision as an independent during the 2018 season, averaged 16,571 in attendance per game, meeting the FBS attendance requirement of 15,000 during the first year of its transition process.
- Montana claimed the FCS attendance title for a fourth consecutive season, drawing an average of 23,535 fans per home game for a total of 141,212 spectators in 2017. James Madison (21,724) landed in the No. 2 spot with Florida A&M (19,048), Yale (18,940) and Montana State (18,617) rounding out the top five.
- Tuskegee (Ala.) captured the Division II attendance title, attracting a total of 44,994 fans for a 14,998 average per home game. Grand Valley State (Mich.), which had led Division II for three years, landed in the No. 2 spot with an average of 13,432 fans per game, followed by Morehouse (Ga.) with 10,100, Fort Valley State (Ga.) with 9,572 and Texas A&M-Commerce with 8,580.
- The St. Thomas (Minn.) - Saint John's (Minn.) game on Sept. 23 crushed the Division III attendance record with 37,355 spectators, or 19,820 more than the previous record. The Tommie-Johnnie game was played at Target Field, the home of the Minnesota Twins, and the game outpaced 80 of 81 Twins home games at the venue, all but the 39,615 fans at the Twins home opener. Ranking among the largest non-Division I games ever, the Tommie-Johnnie game topped 84 Division I games played the same weekend, including 28 FBS contents and 56 of the 57 FCS games.
- St. Thomas (Minn.) finished first among all 240 Division III programs in 2017 home attendance, with a total of 52,349 attending seven home games for an average of 7,478. They claimed the crown from perennial rival Saint John's (Minn.), which landed in the No. 2 spot after holding the title for 15 of the previous 16 years. The Johnnies, which did not count the rivalry game as a home game, attracted 36,553 fans during six home contests for a 6,092 average. Rounding out the top five were Emory & Henry (Va.) with 4,786, Geneva (Pa.) with 4,467 and Concordia-Moorhead (Minn.) with 4,429.
- The Southwestern Athletic Conference earned its 39th FCS attendance title in 40 years, averaging 13,694 fans for a total of 739,464 in 2017.
- The Southland Conference at the FCS level set a single-season conference record with 472,342 total fans attending games in 2017.
- The Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) netted its 14th Division II attendance crown in 15 years, averaging 7,117 fans.
- The Minnesota Intercollegiate Conference grabbed the top spot for Division III attendance for the 12th time in the last 13 years with an average of 3,090 fans per game.
Regular Season Ratings Highlights
- The 355 college football telecasts on ABC, beIN Sports, CBS, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, FOX, FS1, FS2, NBC and NBCSN during the 2017 regular season averaged 1,942,000 viewers per game while reaching more than 200 million unique fans†.
- Auburn’s 26-14 upset of Alabama in the Iron Bowl on CBS was the most watched game of the season with 13,657,000 viewers and a 7.59 rating. CBS also carried the second most watched game of the regular season with 13,466,000 viewers watching Georgia best Auburn 28-7 in the SEC Championship.
- A total live audience* of 12,604,000 watched No. 1 Alabama vs. No. 3 Florida State on ABC on Sept. 2, the first time in the sport’s history that a No. 1 preseason team opened against an opponent ranked in the Top 3. The viewership set a new record across all networks as the most-watched college football kickoff weekend matchup ever.
- The Top Five regular season games all attracted more than 10 million viewers and the Top 10 all eclipsed the seven million mark: Alabama-Auburn (13,657,000 on CBS); Auburn-Georgia (13,466,000 on CBS); Ohio State-Wisconsin (12,918,000 on FOX); Florida State-Alabama (12,335,000 on ABC); Ohio State-Michigan (10,507,000 on FOX); Penn State-Ohio State (9,868,000 on FOX); Army-Navy (8,419,000 on CBS); Oklahoma-Ohio State (8,086,000 on ABC); Michigan-Florida (7,650,000 on ABC); and Georgia-Auburn (7,407,000 on CBS).
- Army's 14-13 win over Navy gave the game its highest rating (5.9) in 23 years, a 5 percent increase from last year, with 8,419,000 fans tuning in to watch.
- The number of viewers topped more than 5 million for 24 regular season games, including three games on cable.
- ABC’s Saturday Night Football remained college football’s most-viewed franchise, averaging a total live audience* of 5,834,000 per game during its 14-week prime-time run this season.
- The SEC on CBS finished as the highest-rated individual package for the ninth year in a row. The package averaged a household rating/share of 3.0/7, according to Nielsen national ratings, topping all other networks.
- ESPN’s networks reached more than 171 million unique fans during the 2017 regular season, collectively watching more than 85 billion minutes of college football games.
- FOX, which expanded its coverage through a new deal with the Big Ten finished the regular season with record-high viewership, increasing its average from 2.951 million to 3.625 million or a 23 percent increase.
- ESPN, with the most games overall, continued as the most-viewed cable network for college football games, and its prime-time series for games kicking off between 7 p.m. and 8 p.m. ET, averaged 3,103,000 viewers, up 19 percent year-over-year, making it the most-watched cable series this season.
- FS1 landed its best average since the network launched in 2013 with an average 816,000 viewers for the 40 games carried by the network.
- Five teams played in three or more games ranked in the Top 25 for viewership: Michigan (5), Ohio State (5), Alabama (4), Auburn (3) and Penn State (3).
- Ohio State's 27-21 victory over Wisconsin in the Big Ten Championship Game drew 12,918,000 viewers on FOX, ranking as the network’s most-watched college football game since the 2013 Big Ten Championship and at the time was the network’s most-watched prime-time telecast of any kind since Game 7 of the 2017 World Series. The game attracted a combined 13,063,000 viewers on the FOX broadcast network, FOX Deportes and FOX Sports GO with an average minute audience of 136,161 on FOX Sports GO, making it the streaming service’s biggest college football event ever.
- Oklahoma's 41-17 win over TCU in the first Big 12 Championship Game since 2010 delivered 5,896,000 viewers on FOX. Overall, a combined 5,982,000 viewers watched the Big 12 Championship Game on FOX, FOX Deportes and FOX Sports GO, with an average minute audience of 79,373 on the streaming service, making it the best-performing Big 12 game in FOX Sports GO history and its fourth-best college football event ever.
- The SEC Championship Game between Georgia and Auburn earned an 8.0 rating and 13.5 million viewers on CBS, up 21 percent in ratings and viewership from last year (6.6, 11.1 million) and up 3 percent and 6 percent respectively from 2015 (7.8, 12.8 million), both of which pit Alabama against Florida. The Bulldogs’ win ranks as the highest rated and most-watched SEC Championship since the 2013 Auburn-Missouri matchup (8.6, 14.4 million).
- The Oklahoma-Ohio State game on Sept. 9 produced the best September non-opening week overnight rating on ABC in seven years with a 5.3 rating and 8,086,000 viewers.
- ESPN’s telecast of Alabama's 31-24 victory at Mississippi State on Nov. 11 delivered 7,031,000 viewers, making it to the most watched cable game of the season and among ESPN’s top 10 most-viewed regular season Saturday games during the past 20 seasons. It also ranked as the 11th most-watched game of the regular season.
- More than 5.4 million viewers watched the Ohio State-Indiana game on ESPN Aug. 31, notching the largest audience for an opening weekend Thursday game on record and making ESPN the most-viewed network in prime-time for all key male and adult demographics. The viewership marked an increase of 172 percent over last year’s opening Thursday game.
- FOX Sports had its most-watched opening week ever with seven games on FOX and FS1, drawing an average audience of 1,522,000 across the networks’ seven games and representing an increase of 15 percent from 2015, the last time an opening-week game aired on the FOX broadcast network.
- FOX had its most-watched college football Labor Day Weekend game ever with UCLA’s 45-44 victory over Texas A&M drawing 3,190,000 viewers.
- FS1’s telecast of Maryland’s 51-41 victory over Texas on Sept. 2 drew 2,046,000 viewers, making it cable television’s most-watched Saturday college football game of Labor Day Weekend.
- The Nov. 18 Navy-Notre Dame game on NBC produced a 1.99 rating and 3.205 million viewers, ranking as NBC’s highest rated and most watched afternoon Fighting Irish game since the 2015 season opener against Georgia Tech, which netted a 2.41 rating and 3.731 million viewers. The game also represented a 30 percent increase in both metrics versus the comparable season concluding game last year between Virginia Tech and Notre Dame.
- Notre Dame’s final three games of the season on NBC, which were all afternoon tilts and played against NC State, Wake Forest and Navy, notched a 15 percent increase in average viewers when compared to the final three games of last year, which were also afternoon and played against Miami (Fla.), Army and Virginia Tech.
- The first week of the 2017 football season was the most watched week ever on Pac-12 Networks, as well as on the Pac-12 Now app and Pac-12.com where fans consumed over 120,000 hours of video.
- The Pac-12 Networks delivered its most-watched Facebook Live video ever during the Sept. 2 USC postgame press conference, which featured blind long-snapper Jake Olson who played in the Trojan's 49-31 win over Western Michigan. FOX Sports also reported a Pac-12 Networks production, highlighting Olson's snap on FOX Sports' Facebook page, ranked as one of their most-viewed videos of the 2017 season with 2.7 million views. Click here to watch the video.
- The South Florida at UCF game Nov. 24 on ABC delivered a total live audience* of 4,700,000 on the Friday after Thanksgiving, making it the most-watched game between two American Athletic Conference teams ever and the network's second most-watched Black Friday late afternoon game since 2005.
- UCF’s 62-55 double-overtime win over Memphis on ABC attracted a 2.27 rating and 3,385,000 viewers, making it the most-watched American Athletic Conference Championship Game in the league’s history.
- College GameDay Built by the Home Depot on ESPN, which aired from Auburn, Ala., Nov. 25 before the Iron Bowl averaged 2,311,000 viewers, its most-viewed episode of the 2017 season. The show averaged 1,841,000 viewers during the season.
- The College Football Playoff Selection Show on ESPN (Dec. 3) was the most-viewed four-hour CFP Selection Show ever. The audience for the four-hour show was 1,630,000 viewers, up 23 percent from last year. The show’s first hour, which saw the four College Football Playoff teams announced, averaged 3,027,000 viewers, up 14 percent from last year.
- The final Tuesday College Football Playoff: Top 25 Ranking show (Nov. 28) averaged 1,418,000 viewers on ESPN, up 19 percent from the final Tuesday ranking show in 2016.
- For the 16th year in a row, Birmingham, Ala., remained the strongest TV market in the nation for college football on ESPN, averaging a 6.8 rating for all games televised by the network. The top five markets included Birmingham (6.8), Columbus, Ohio (5.0), Greenville, S.C. (4.5), Oklahoma City (3.9) and Knoxville, Tenn. (3.9).
- ESPN’s Digital Content: Fans spent 4.3 billion minutes consuming non-game, college football content on the ESPN app and ESPN.com, up 16 percent from last season.
- Stadium, launched in August 2017 as a 24/7 sports network with both digital and traditional broadcast platforms, produced 65 live games during the 2017 season, including Conference USA (15), Patriot League (10) and the Southern Conference (3). In addition to over-the-air-television distribution, Stadium delivered 28 games via Twitter, which attracted 7,680,000 unique viewers and a total number of 15,752,000 views. The network also distributed 15 games on Facebook, which resulted in 10.2 million additional views.
- Stadium’s most viewed Facebook game occurred Sept. 9 during New Mexico State’s 30-28 win over New Mexico with 1.2 million views on the social network. Stadium’s Facebook coverage also produced a viral moment with 1.2 million views and 7,000 comments during a live interview with a Wyoming cheerleader about her dad who was on military deployment in Germany and watching her and the Cowboys during their Sept. 30 game against Texas State. Click to watch the interview.
