By Chris Marler
When Alabama and Georgia meet, eyeballs gravitate.
Saturday was no different. The, 41-34, instant classic not only delivered on the field, but it delivered in the ratings as well.
Over 14 million people tuned in to the game with an average viewership of 12 million. That number marks the highest of any college football game this season and the highest non-postseason game on ABC since the 2017 season when Alabama and Florida State squared off in a Top 3 matchup in the season opener.
The SEC Just Means More.
Alabama vs. UGA peaked with 14.1 million viewers and became ESPN’s most streamed regular season college football game ever and most watched regular season primetime game on any network since 2017.https://t.co/ecgIDGkXZc#UGA #DawgNation pic.twitter.com/oNgWIYxwhY
— DawgNation (@DawgNation) October 2, 2024
ABC’s numbers have drastically improved airing SEC games in comparison to last year with regional coverage of the Big 12 and ACC.
The noon window featured Kentucky’s upset of Ole Miss with 3.99 million viewers. That not only outperformed Michigan-Minnesota on Fox’s Big Noon Kickoff (3.6 million), but it was up over two million viewers from last year’s Clemson-Syracuse (1.98 million) that aired on ABC in the same time slot. The 3:30 game between Auburn and Oklahoma averaged just over five million viewers, as well. Last year’s Kansas-Texas game in the same time slot drew only 3.32 million.
Last Saturday’s @SEC on ABC tripleheader won the week with #UGAvsALA becoming @ESPNCFB‘s best regular season game since ’17
🏈 @GeorgiaFootball vs @AlabamaFTBL | 12M viewers
🏈 @OU_Football vs @AuburnFootball | 5M viewers
🏈 @UKFootball vs @OleMissFB | 4M viewers pic.twitter.com/KeOCtxnqiF— ESPN PR (@ESPNPR) October 1, 2024
Concerns existed about the new television contracts and how well the SEC on ABC/ESPN would perform after a nearly 30-year relationship with CBS for the conference’s game of the week. But, through one month of the season, it seems the network is doing even better than expected. And don’t forget that Georgia-Texas, Alabama-LSU and Texas-Texas A&M are all still to come.
