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Record viewership for Texas vs. Alabama a reminder of UT's attractiveness in re-alignment

Eric Nahlinby:Eric Nahlin•09/13/22
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Tim Warner/Getty Images

Saturday’s 20-19 thriller in which the Alabama Crimson Tide beat the Texas Longhorns on a last second field goal dispelled any notions Texas didn’t belong in the Southeastern Conference. Ratings metrics after the game were a stark reminder, whether Texas ‘belongs’ on the field in the SEC matters little because it certainly belongs on the SEC television schedule.

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First a look at some data via Fox Sports: Texas vs. Alabama averaged 10.6 million viewers, with 15.1 million viewers tuning in at its peak. It’s obviously early in the season, but the tilt between traditional powers was the most-watched college football game of the 2022 season.

Michigan-Ohio State is always tough to compete with, but Texas-Alabama did just that. Saturday’s game was the fourth most-watched regular season college football game in Fox history, with only end-of-season showdowns between the Buckeyes and Wolverines ahead of the Longhorns and the Crimson Tide.

In more good news for Fox, the Big Noon Kickoff pregame show has seen its viewership increase 32 percent year over year.

Let’s add streaming numbers to that:

Streaming is still a relatively new phenomenon. This record isn’t exactly Cal Ripken Jr. breaking Lou Gehrig’s games played streak in baseball, but it does offer a reminder that Texas is still a very big draw and it portends even bigger things once Texas officially joins the SEC. That’s not to mention that streaming will become more and more important in the college football media landscape as more people cut the cord while still looking for their college football fix.

Evidence of that? Even Notre Dame, who has called NBC home for games in South Bend for many years, has one game per season thrown onto the Peacock streaming service.

This game, and UT’s promising performance, will only heighten the SEC’s bargaining power during the next round of negotiations.

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