College football television viewership is down 11% through September compared with the same point in the 2025 season, with FBS games averaging 1.7 million viewers across Nielsen-rated networks.
Texas’s 24-23 comeback win over Ohio State in Week 2 is the season’s most-watched game so far, drawing 14 million viewers on ABC—the largest regular-season audience on an ESPN platform in a decade. Only one other contest has topped 10 million: Ole Miss’s 32-24 victory over LSU on Sept. 19, which drew 10.9 million on ABC.
A year earlier, four Week 1 games alone exceeded 10 million viewers, led by a record 16.6 million on Fox for Texas–Ohio State. Eleven regular-season games cleared that threshold over the full 2025 season.
According to Front Office Sports, here are the 10 most-watched games through September this season:
- Ohio State–Texas: 14 million (ABC)
- LSU–Ole Miss: 10.9 million (ABC)
- Texas–Tennessee: 9.7 million (ABC)
- Ole Miss–Florida: 8.3 million (ABC)
- Oklahoma–Michigan: 8.2 million (Fox)
- Wisconsin–Notre Dame: 8.1 million (NBC)
- Alabama–Kentucky: 7.3 million (ABC)
- Florida State–Alabama: 7 million (ABC)
- Clemson–LSU: 5.8 million (ABC)
- Texas A&M–LSU: 5.7 million (ABC)
LSU’s 51-10 win over Clemson, the most anticipated season opener, drew 5.8 million after a two-hour rain delay.
Viewership could rise over the next two months as the SEC and Big Ten move deeper into conference play, primarily on ABC and Fox. NBC will carry No. 3 Miami vs. No. 4 Notre Dame on Nov. 7; last year’s Week 1 meeting drew 10.8 million on ABC.
ESPN’s College GameDay is averaging 2.83 million viewers through four weeks, 5% above its record 2025 season average of 2.7 million. Weeks 2 through 4 each set a program record for that week.