College Football Playoff National Championship: Michigan vs. Washington averages four-year best, 25.05 million viewers

The College Football Playoff National Championship made history. Per “Sports Media Watch,” Michigan’s 34-13 victory over Washington on Monday averaged 25.05 million viewers across ESPN’s MegaCast coverage.

It was the most-watched national championship game since Joe Burrow led LSU to a 42-25 win over Trevor Lawrence and Clemson in 2020 (25.59 million). The viewership particularly received a massive leap from last year.

Georgia’s blowout victory over TCU last season averaged just 17.223 million viewers. While the national championship averaged the most viewers in four years, it’s worth noting the Rose Bowl semifinal between Alabama and Michigan last week averaged 27.2 million viewers.

 In the four years since Nielsen began including out-of-home viewing in its final nationals, the national title game has trailed a semifinal three times. Michigan was a draw this season, playing in the three most-watched games of the season. The team’s regular season matchup with Ohio State placed third (19.07M).

More on the CFP’s jaw-dropping ratings

The Rose Bowl audience peaked at 32.8 million viewers, according to ESPN, the highest of any CFP semifinal. The final rating figure came in at 27.2 million viewers, making it the most-viewed semifinal game since the first year of the CFP.

Beyond that, it was the most-viewed non-NFL sporting event in five years and ranked as a Top 10 cable telecast all-time, per ESPN.

While it didn’t pull nearly as big of a number, the Sugar Bowl matchup between Texas and Washington in the late semifinal was one of the most-watched non-NFL sporting events in the last year and one of the top-rated Sugar Bowls since 2004. All told, 18.4 million viewers tuned in with a peak of 24.5 million.

The Sugar Bowl viewership was also likely dinged by the late start time — scheduled at 8:45 p.m. EST and delayed due to the Rose Bowl going into overtime — as the game didn’t conclude until well after midnight on the East Coast. 

And on the whole, the CFP semifinals were the most-watched in six years, per ESPN, with 22.6 million viewers tuning in. Fans witnessed two fantastic battles. Michigan narrowly defeated Alabama 27-20 in overtime.

In the monstrous matchup, standout quarterback JJ McCarthy and Jalen Milroe went head-to-head. Not to be outdone, Texas’ Quinn Ewers and Washington’s Michael Penix Jr. put on a show, with the Huskies ultimately running away with a 37-31 triumph.