Over 22 million people watched Ohio State win its ninth national title.
ESPN announced Wednesday that Ohio State and Notre Dame's matchup in the College Football national title game drew an average of 22.1 million viewers, making it the most-watched non-NFL sporting event since the Buckeyes' win over Oregon in the Rose Bowl.
The 2025 #CFBPlayoff #NationalChampionship between @OhioStateFB & @NDFootball topped the CFB postseason charts
— ESPN PR (@ESPNPR) January 22, 2025
22.1M viewers
Most-watched non-NFL sporting event over the past year
Peaked with 26.1M viewers from 8:30-8:45p ET pic.twitter.com/PEOFgGYmB7
The national championship game marked the third time Ohio State surpassed 19 million viewers in this season's College Football Playoff, following the Rose Bowl vs. Oregon (21.1 million) and the Cotton Bowl vs. Texas (19.6 million). The Buckeyes' matchup with Tennessee attracted 14.3 million.
According to Stewart Mandel and Scott Dochterman of The Athletic, Ohio State's 6.8 million average television per game in the regular season ranked second in college football behind Georgia (8.6 million). The Buckeyes played in several of the most-watched regular-season games overall, including its matchups with Michigan (12.3 million), Oregon (10.2 million), Penn State (9.94 million) and Indiana (9.33 million).
