May 6, 2024
The most competitive pair of semifinals in the nine-year history of the College Football Playoff drew the largest non-New Year's Day viewership for those games on ESPN, the network said Monday.
Dramatic and entertaining victories by Texas Christian University over Michigan in the Fiesta Bowl and Georgia over Ohio State in the Peach Bowl on Saturday drew an average of 21.7 million viewers for ESPN.
The seven-point combined margin in the games was the smallest since the College Football Playoff began in the 2014 season. Only three previous playoff semifinal games were decided by fewer than 10 points.
ESPN said it was the third-most watched playoff semifinals, only surpassed by the first one played on Jan. 1, 2015, and the semifinals played on New Year's Day 2018.
The Peach Bowl, the nightcap of the playoff doubleheader, averaged 22.1 million viewers, making it the most-watched final-four game not played on New Year's Day and the fourth-most among 18 semifinal games.
Ohio State's decisive field goal attempt in the final seconds happened almost simultaneously with the clock striking midnight on New Year's Eve in the Eastern time zone. The kick sailed wide and the defending national champion Bulldogs advanced to the championship game on Jan. 9 in Inglewood, California, to face No. 3 Texas Christian.
The Fiesta Bowl drew an average of 21.4 million viewers and peaked at 26.4 million.
