Alabama, Georgia Delivered On Field As Well As On TV Ratings Front

Saturday night’s game between the Alabama Crimson Tide and Georgia Bulldogs was the biggest game of the college football season to date, and it delivered a roller coaster of an instant classic that people will talk about for a long time.

But did it deliver strong TV ratings befitting of a game as anticipated and talked about as it was?

Yes… yes, it did.

The game averaged a 6.0 rating and 11.99 million viewers on ABC, which made it the most-watched college football game this season, according to Nielsen. 

The game saw its peak viewership of 14.1 million from 11:15 to 11:30 pm, which, as you may recall, was about the time that things got really interesting as the Crimson Tide tried to hold off a late Bulldogs rally, which they ultimately did.

Alabama and Georgia brought in huge numbers with their Saturday night game on ABC. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

I don’t think anyone expected much less than big numbers for this game. You had two teams that appeared to be on course for College Football Playoff appearances, both are historic programs that have seen immense success in recent years, and on top of that, you can throw in the fact that former President Donald Trump was on hand (and even took some time to speak with OutKick founder Clay Travis).

However, when you realize how many other games it did better than, it puts how big of a draw the game was in perspective.

According to Sports Media Watch, the figures made the game the biggest college football audience on ABC since the Citrus Bowl between Alabama and Michigan in January 2020.

If you exclude bowl games and national championship games, it was the biggest draw since Alabama and Florida State squared off at the start of the 2017 college football season.

It’ll be interesting to see if anything can top that one, but I think a potential rematch between Alabama and Georgia would be just the thing that could do it.