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National Championship Game viewership up 9 percent, delivers huge ratings for ESPN networks
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Many claimed they wouldn’t watch the all-SEC National Championship Game. It appears much of that talk was simply that — just talk.
ESPN has released its figures from last night and the title game between Alabama and Georgia drew a 16.7 overnight rating, up nine percent from last year’s game. The game specifically covered on ESPN drew a 16 overnight rating, up 8 percent from last year.
This championship game was the second-highest rated College Football Playoff finale of all time, only trailing the debut game in 2014 between Ohio State and Oregon.
Also worth noting, Birmingham led the nation in viewership for the game and Atlanta set a new record for title game viewership. Birmingham had a 57.6 local rating while Atlanta had a 47.8 rating. Greenville (31.9), Jacksonville (29.0), Nashville (28.3), Knoxville (28.0), New Orleans (27.5), Austin (23.5), Columbus (23.2) and Memphis (22.8) round out the top 10 markets to watch the game.
A graduate of the University of Tennessee, Michael Wayne Bratton oversees the news coverage for Saturday Down South. Michael previously worked for FOX Sports and NFL.com
