The College Football Playoff national championship game between Indiana and Miami drew massive viewership, averaging 30.1 million viewers on ESPN's MegaCast—up 36% from last year's Ohio State-Notre Dame title game (22.1 million) and marking the most-watched college football game of any kind since the inaugural CFP final in the 2014-15 season.
The Indiana Hoosiers' 27-21 victory over the Hurricanes peaked at 33.2 million viewers in the first half, ranking as the second-most-watched CFP championship on record (behind only Ohio State-Oregon at 33.9 million in 2015) and the most-viewed U.S. sports telecast outside the NFL since Game 7 of the 2016 World Series.
Overall, the expanded 12-team CFP averaged 16.3 million viewers per game, a 4% increase from the prior year.Nielsen's recent methodology updates—including expanded out-of-home measurement and Big Data + Panel integration—contributed to some gains, but the numbers still reinforce college football's status as the top U.S. sport behind the NFL.
The result extended ESPN's hot streak, coming after its record NFL divisional playoff audience (38 million for Texans-Patriots). Indiana's win also completed a perfect 16-0 season, cementing one of the most dominant and historic runs in college football history.