Ranking the most-watched college football programs in 2022

Top in-demand college football games for 2023 per @StubHub:

1. Ohio State @ Notre Dame 9/23
2. Ohio State @ Michigan 11/25
3. Texas @ Alabama 9/9
4. Iowa @ Penn State 9/23
5. Florida State vs LSU 9/3
6. USC @ Notre Dame 10/14
7. West Virginia @ Penn State 9/2

— Kurt Badenhausen (@kbadenhausen) August 22, 2023

 

Ranking the most-watched college football programs in 2022

The numbers next to each school indicate the average number of viewers per week for a 12-week season.

Streaming numbers are included when available. Games that do not have available data are counted as zero.

1. Ohio State — 5.80M
2. Alabama — 5.11M
3. Michigan — 4.37M
4. Tennessee — 4.13M
5. Georgia — 3.50M
6. Notre Dame — 3.30M
7. LSU — 3.22M
8. Texas — 3.06M
9. Penn State — 3.05M
10. Clemson — 2.59M
11. Florida — 2.57M
12. Oregon — 2.21M
13. TCU — 2.20M
14. Southern Cal — 2.07M
15. Florida State — 2.03M
16. Nebraska — 1.98M
17. Michigan State — 1.91M
18. Texas A&M — 1.87M
19. Maryland — 1.864M
20. Auburn — 1.863M
21. Arkansas — 1.80M
22. Mississippi — 1.753M
23. Oklahoma — 1.748M
24. Oklahoma State — 1.68M
25. UCLA — 1.591M
26. Wisconsin — 1.587M
27. Iowa — 1.50M
28. Kentucky — 1.35M
29. Baylor — 1.32M
30. Kansas State — 1.23M
31. Indiana — 1.19M
32. Illinois — 1.17M
33. Utah — 1.16M
34. Washington — 1.15M
35. Northwestern — 1.13M
36. Mississippi State — 1.10M
37. Minnesota — 1.05M
38. BYU — 997K
39. South Carolina — 990K
40. Navy — 976K
41. Washington State — 907K
42. Iowa State — 882K
43. NC State — 881K
44. Purdue -870K
45. California — 857K
46. North Carolina — 849K
47. Stanford — 846K
48. Syracuse — 841K
49. Georgia Tech — 837K
50. Missouri — 793K
51. West Virginia — 774K
52. Kansas — 732K
53. Army — 681K
54. Texas Tech — 680K
55. Cincinnati — 653K
56. Pittsburgh — 650K
57. Oregon State — 625K
58. Rutgers — 618K
59. Miami FL— 608K
60. Wake Forest — 523K
61. UCF — 510K
62. Arizona — 506K
63. Louisville — 496K
64. Colorado State — 386K
65. Tulane — 354K
66. Boise State — 353K
67. Colorado — 352.9K
68. Air Force — 326K
69. Utah State — 324K
70. Boston College — 322K
71. Arizona State — 314K
72. SMU — 312K
73. Toledo — 306K
74. East Carolina — 305K
75. Appalachian State — 298K
76. Virginia Tech — 264K
77. Marshall — 262K
78. Houston — 242K
79. Virginia — 237K
80. Fresno State — 220K
81. Ohio — 214K
82. Connecticut — 212K
83. San Diego State — 198K
84. Western Michigan — 174K
85. Memphis — 165K
86. Tulsa — 162K
87. Wyoming — 154K
88. Central Michigan — 130K
89. Georgia Southern — 125K
90. Nevada — 116.4K
91. Duke — 115.7K
92. UTEP — 102K
93. Temple — 92K
94. New Mexico State — 86K
95. South Florida — 80.8K
96. Coastal Carolina — 80.6K
97. Louisiana — 78K
98. UAB — 71K
99. Arkansas State — 69K
100. Buffalo — 67K
101. Bowling Green — 63K
102. Ball State — 61K
103. Kent State — 60K
104. Georgia State — 55K
105. San Jose State — 53K
106. Miami OH — 49K
107. Northern Illinois — 46K
108. Hawaii — 43K
109. Eastern Michigan — 33K
110. Akron — 31K
111. Old Dominion — 28K
112. Texas State — 18.4K
113. New Mexico — 17.5K
114. Southern Miss — 16K
115. Charlotte 14.8K
116. Western Kentucky — 13.8K
117. Florida Atlantic — 12K
118. Louisiana Tech — 10K
119. James Madison — 9K

The 2022 “4 million club”

Here are all of the games that broke 4 million viewers this season:

1. Michigan at Ohio State — 17.14M
2. Tennessee at Georgia — 13.06M
3. Alabama at Tennessee — 11.56M
4. Alabama at Texas — 10.60M
5. Notre Dame vs. Ohio State — 10.53M
6. Alabama at Mississippi — 8.71M
7. Ohio State at Penn State — 8.27M
8. Alabama at LSU — 7.58M
9. Florida State vs. LSU — 7.55M
10. Texas A&M at Alabama — 7.15M
11. Army vs. Navy — 6.94M
12. Florida at Florida State — 6.71M
13. Notre Dame at Southern Cal, 6.68M
14. Ohio State at Maryland — 6.60M
15. Penn State at Michigan — 6.45M
16. Auburn at Alabama — 6.27M
17. Oregon vs. Georgia — 6.20M
18. Alabama at Arkansas — 5.83M
19. Florida at Georgia — 5.62M
20. Michigan State at Michigan — 5.58M
21. Florida at Tennessee — 5.57M
22. Illinois at Michigan — 5.47M
23. TCU at Texas — 5.03M
24. NC State at Clemson — 4.98M
25. Tennessee at South Carolina — 4.87M
26. Clemson at Georgia Tech — 4.86M
27. Ohio State at Northwestern — 4.76M
28. Syracuse at Clemson — 4.75M
29. Wisconsin at Ohio State — 4.59M
30. Southern Cal at UCLA — 4.53M
31. Georgia at Kentucky — 4.48M
32. Tennessee at Pittsburgh — 4.46M
33. Texas at Oklahoma State — 4.46M
34. Ohio State at Michigan State — 4.44M
35. Nebraska vs. Northwestern — 4.42M
36. Maryland at Michigan — 4.38M
37. Iowa at Ohio State — 4.38M
38. TCU at Baylor — 4.35M
39. Iowa State at TCU — 4.34M
40. Kentucky at Florida — 4.33M
41. Auburn at Georgia — 4.24M
42. Michigan at Iowa — 4.20M
43. Penn State at Auburn — 4.05M
44. Kentucky at Tennessee — 4.04M
45. Michigan at Indiana — 4.01M

There were 39 teams that played in at least one game that cracked 4 million viewers:

8 — Ohio State

7 — Alabama, Michigan

6 — Tennessee

5 — Georgia

4 — Florida

3 — Auburn, Clemson, Kentucky, Penn State, TCU, Texas

2 — Florida State, Iowa, LSU, Maryland, Michigan State, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Southern Cal

1 — Arkansas, Army, Baylor, Georgia Tech, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa State, Mississippi, Navy, NC State, Nebraska, Oklahoma State, Oregon, Pittsburgh, South Carolina, Syracuse, Texas A&M, UCLA, Wisconsin

FSU alumni in each Florida county

 

The largest margins of victory by any national champion in the last 40 years.

 The largest margins of victory by any national champion in the last 40 years.

https://www.on3.com/boards/threads/margin-of-victory-by-any-national-champion-in-the-last-40-years.1027870/

1. Florida State '13 (+39.5)
2. Nebraska '95 (+38.7)
3. Texas '05 (+33.8)
4. Miami '01 (+32.9)
5. Florida State '93 (+31.3)
6. Clemson ‘18 (+31.2)
7. Florida '08 (+30.7)
8. Nebraska '97 (+30.2)
9. Florida '96 (+30.0)
10. Alabama ‘20 (+29.1)
11. Georgia ‘21 (+28.4)
12. Alabama '12 (+27.8)
13. Georgia ‘22 (+26.8)
14. Alabama '11 (+26.7)
15. LSU ‘19 (+26.5)
16. USC '04 (+25.2)
17. Alabama ‘17 (+25.2)
18. Miami '89 (+24.9)
19. Miami ‘91 (+23.9)
20. Miami ‘87(+23.9)
21. LSU '03 (+22.9)
22. Nebraska '94 (+22.8)
23. Ohio State '14 (+22.8)
24. Oklahoma ‘85 (+22.3)
25. Oklahoma '00 (+22.1)
26. Florida State '99 (+21.3)
27. Clemson ‘16 (+21.2)
28. BYU ‘84 (+21.0)
29. Alabama '09 (+20.4)
30. Alabama '15 (+20.0)
31. Notre Dame ‘88 (+19.8)
32. Alabama '92 (+18.8)
33. LSU '07 (+18.7)
34. Tennessee '98 (+18.6)
35. Michigan ‘97 (+17.3)
36. Penn State ‘86(+17.2)
37. Auburn '10 (+17.1)
38. Ohio State '02 (+16.2)
39. Florida '06 (+16.2)
40. Miami ‘83 (+14.8)

Most Men's Major Wins since 2010

 

pic.twitter.com/18spGdMLvD

— BKT (@BKoepkaTracker) August 7, 2023

If the ACC payout was based on viewership

 

ACC distributed $36.1m per school on average in 2022.

If based on viewership?
1. FSU $61.6m
2. CU $59.9m
3. UM $39.6m
4. UL $39.2m
5. VT $37.3m
6. SYR $34.2m
7. GT $33m
8. UVA $ 32.6m
9. Pitt $32m
10. NCSU $32m
11. UNC $30.5m
12. BC $29m
13. WF $24.5m
14. DU $19.8m https://t.co/mvKF71aY7U

— not this guy again (@ricobert11) February 24, 2023

20m gap between Miami & Clemson.

1.7 million between 1st & 2nd.

Easy to see why bottom feeders are holding on with their nails. https://t.co/2GZBWglEea pic.twitter.com/el3LusTkMB

— TraditioNole (@TraditiNole) August 7, 2023

Public School athletic debt Top 25, etc

 https://www.sportico.com/business/commerce/2023/college-sports-finances-database-intercollegiate-1234646029/

No public school in the country has more athletics debt than @CalAthletics, debt the university has already partially taken off sports to ease the burden.

The Golden Bears are in danger of suffering a massive reduction in revenue.

📉: via @Sportico's college finance database pic.twitter.com/rebHTqOlIf

— Eben Novy-Williams (@novy_williams) August 4, 2023

How decades of mismanagement has Florida State on the outside looking in of conference realignment

 Interesting history of FSU's mismanagement.  It is a ridiculous excuse making attempt of Thrasher's signing of the GOR and basically failure in athletics, but beyond that, close to accurate.

How decades of mismanagement has Florida State on the outside looking in of conference realignment

What about the ACC? The league signed a horrendously backwards looking deal in 2011 with ESPN that has been the source of the conference’s woes to this day. While the ACC managed to get comparable money to the SEC & Big Ten for its main TV rights, the league signed away all of its third tier rights to ESPN as part of the deal for essentially nothing. ESPN then sub-licensed those to Raycom Sports for $50 million a year that it did not have to share with the conference. This was done at the behest of then-ACC Commissioner John Swofford, who wanted to keep Raycom as an ACC TV partner above all else in TV negotiations. Swofford maintained it was due to Raycom’s long standing relationship as a media partner with the ACC. However, Swofford’s son was a Raycom executive and maintaining the rights to the ACC was a necessary lifeline after Raycom had lost the rights to the SEC the year prior. Whether it was an egregious example of nepotism or terrible lack of foresight to see where college media rights were going the deal has been an albatross around the neck of the league ever since.

In 2007, Dave Hart’s contract as FSU athletic director wasn’t renewed in the wake of the online music class scandal. Tensions had been mounting between Hart, Bowden, and then-FSU President T.K. Wetherell over Hart unilaterally getting the boosters on board with removing Jeff Bowden from FSU’s coaching staff, along with bringing in Jimbo Fisher to eventually replace Bowden. A message board rumor at the time was that school higher ups had been well aware of the issues with the class but looked away until it could be used as an excuse to not renew Hart’s contract and thought the NCAA would just issue a slap on the wrist penalty. Instead, the NCAA handed down a multi-year sanction along with vacating numerous wins by the football and basketball teams. It is the reason FSU’s bowl streak & Bobby Bowden’s career win totals are not recognized as the NCAA records they are to this day.

Any school looking to replace a longtime successful athletic director is in for a challenge. FSU had a further complication, Andy Miller.

Andy Miller was the longtime president of the Seminole Boosters. With the boosters being a separate entity for the athletics department and Miller’s personal fiefdom, Miller was the real power behind the throne of FSU athletics. Miller ran Seminole Boosters like an organization stuck in the 1970s. Perhaps the most public example of that were his derided comments about going on an “old fashioned door knocking campaign” in regards to how to raise funds to deal with FSU’s increasing budget shortfalls in 2019. The austerity with which he could run the booster organization under Bowden carried over despite the growing need for the latest and greatest facilities, as was highlighted in an ESPN piece about Jimbo Fisher’s exit from Tallahassee. This was a structure unlike any other in college athletics and was seen as an impediment to attracting more qualified candidates for FSU’s athletic director following the departure of Dave Hart.

In the wake of Dave Hart’s departure, FSU’s top athletics role would be filled by Randy Spetman from 2008 through 2013. Though Spetman had previous stints as athletics director at Air Force & Utah State, it became apparent to program insiders he was not cut out to run a major athletics program. He scheduled series with USF and Boise State that were largely lambasted. It was during his tenure that FSU athletics began running into a financial hole. In 2011, Spetman publicly commented that FSU was “comfortable” in the ACC before then saying it would be up to newly appointed university president Eric Barron whether FSU would actively pursue any changes to conference membership. Spetman was relieved from being Florida State’s athletic director within days of laying out a 5 year vision for athletics in 2013.

The decision to put pen to paper to sign the ACC Grant of Rights came down to then-president Eric Barron. Barron was an academic at heart that wasn’t personally invested in Seminole athletics. With more forward thinking athletic leadership in place around the time, perhaps Barron would’ve been convinced leaving the ACC would be in FSU’s long term interests. Instead, Barron publicly shot down any rumors that the Seminoles were seeking to join the SEC or the Big 12. Barron even publicly defended FSU’s membership in the ACC in 2012 when rumors of the Seminoles looking to join the Big 12 were at their loudest. Barron would eventually sign the newly drafted ACC Grant of Rights in 2013 before leaving to become President of Penn State University less than a year later.

Barron would be succeeded by former state legislator and FSU alumni John Thrasher. While Thrasher was personally invested in the success of both the university and athletics department, he would need better guidance from FSU’s top athletics officials than what had been offered previously. Randy Spetman’s replacement was former Duke Deputy Athletic Director Stan Wilcox . In Tomahawk Nation’s article about Wilcox’s hire, it was asked

“How much does he know about multi-media rights, digital rights, third-tier rights, and the economics thereof. The question was asked because one source doesn’t believe people born before 1970 have a great grasp of those things. He wants to know how much Wilcox knows about those issues, and if he has someone helping him with that aspect of the job.”

The answer to those questions still have consequences for FSU to this day. Wilcox was a staunch supporter of FSU’s membership in the ACC and later the ACC Network. Wilcox projected the ACC Network could bring in $15 million a year for Florida State athletics. Thanks to those projections, Thrasher didn’t object to extending the ACC Grant of Rights through 2036 as a prerequisite for ESPN launching the ACC Network. Unfortunately the investments mandated by ESPN would propel Florida State athletics into yearly deficits of almost $4 million before Wilcox resigned to take a position with the NCAA in 2018. While the ACC Network has brought in new revenue, the upfront costs and the length of the contract have made the gains ultimately not worthwhile. In addition, as cord cutting continues the subscriber fees from the conference networks will largely dry up by 2036.