ESPN boasts big ratings from Alabama-Tennessee, South Carolina-Florida games
The suits at ESPN must be loving SEC football right about now.
The sports network sent out a press release boasting about the big ratings of both the Alabama-Tennessee matchup in Tuscaloosa and the SEC East battle between South Carolina and Florida this past Saturday.
In the case of the Crimson Tide and Volunteers, 4,248,000 viewers tuned in to see the annual rivalry game between the two, the largest audience for any game besides Sunday Night Football across all of the networks. Nick Saban’s squad was tested by the Vols but pulled away in the second half for a 35-13 victory, the Tide’s 13-straight victory in that series.
As you would expect, the biggest markets for the game were Birmingham (41.8 local rating), Knoxville (26.6) and Nashville (14.6) while Atlanta drew a 11.3 local rating.
The noon kickoff between the Gators and Gamecocks was highly watched as well, as 3,193,000 people watched the Gators pull out a 38-27 win in Columbia to improve to 7-1.