The 2025 college football season has kicked off with remarkable viewership gains, driven by the sport’s growing popularity and Nielsen’s new Big Data + Panel audience measurement system, introduced in September 2025.
This advanced methodology, incorporating millions of data points from set-top boxes and smart TVs, offers a more comprehensive view of audience behavior compared to last year’s panel-only metrics.
Nielsen data shared with Front Office Sports highlights a 10.5% year-over-year increase in average viewership per game, rising from 1.9 million in the first five weeks of 2024 to 2.1 million in 2025, even when applying the new methodology retroactively to last year’s telecasts.
A standout moment was Alabama’s upset over Georgia, averaging 10.4 million viewers, one of six games this season to surpass 10 million—compared to just one at this point in 2024.
📺Key Viewership Metrics for 2025
✔Demographic Growth: Viewership among 18- to 34-year-olds jumped 15%.
✔Major Audiences: Six games hit 10 million+ viewers, including Alabama vs. Georgia.
✔Sports Consumption: Sports content accounted for 22% of broadcast and cable viewing time among adults 25–54, despite comprising only 15% of programming. This is up from 19% in 2024, which included the Paris Olympics.
✔Season Milestone: The Alabama-Georgia game marked a high point in a season of record-breaking audiences.
✔Major Audiences: Six games hit 10 million+ viewers, including Alabama vs. Georgia.
✔Sports Consumption: Sports content accounted for 22% of broadcast and cable viewing time among adults 25–54, despite comprising only 15% of programming. This is up from 19% in 2024, which included the Paris Olympics.
✔Season Milestone: The Alabama-Georgia game marked a high point in a season of record-breaking audiences.
Nielsen SVP Brian Fuhrer attributes the surge to fans seeking an “escape” through live sports, with college football leading the charge. “People are gravitating to these moments, and our new measurement system captures that engagement more accurately,” Fuhrer told Front Office Sports.