Friday, August 18, 2023

Ranking the most-watched college football programs in 2022


 

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


Saturday, August 12, 2023

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

 


If the ACC payout was based on viewership

 




Public School athletic debt Top 25, etc

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







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.