PublishedSeptember 4, 2025 11:10 AM EDT•UpdatedSeptember 4, 2025 11:10 AM EDT
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Fox’s broadcast of the Ohio State–Texas matchup last Saturday drew 16.6 million viewers, marking the most-watched Week 1 college football game in history. For perspective, that single regular-season game outdrew every NBA Finals series of the past seven years.
As Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer noted, college football is now the second-most popular sport in America, trailing only the NFL. And the gap between college football and the NBA for that No. 2 spot is widening.
This year’s NBA Finals between the Thunder and Pacers averaged just 10.3 million viewers. Even Game 7 — the championship-deciding matchup — drew fewer viewers (16.3 million) than Ohio State–Texas in August.
During opening weekend, four college football games topped 10 million viewers — the first time that’s ever happened — making it the most-watched Week 1 on record.
According to Fox Insights & Analytics executive Michael Mulvihill, the sport entered this season having already set overall viewership records in back-to-back years:
Prediction: College football will set a new all-time viewership record for the third straight season.
And yet, the mainstream sports media continues to largely ignore the product. Debate shows like First Take or Get Up rarely, if ever, lead with college football. Instead, they spend airtime on Bronny James or NBA regular-season games that average fewer than two million viewers.
That’s the disconnect between average sports fans and the people who cover sports.
The national press tends to downplay college football because its strongest fan base is Southern, its biggest stars are largely white coaches, and its culture is built on on-field action and tailgating. Media elites look down upon that type of fandom.
Moreover, college football doesn’t resonate as strongly with coastal media elites like Stephen A. Smith, Rich Eisen, or Bill Simmons. Those three wouldn’t dare take a trip to Norman, Oklahoma, to enjoy a game—or anywhere they can’t find a Four Seasons to stay.
Still, despite the lack of coverage, college football has never been more popular. The NIL and the transfer portal have made players more marketable to fans, seemingly solving what had long been the sport’s biggest hurdle.
“Americans love football!!! Americans don’t love…social justice warrior lectures from the NBA,” longtime political commentator Steve Cortes wrote on X.
Indeed.