Clemson, ACC help ESPN, ABC set Week 1 viewership records

Clemson didn’t win on the scoreboard on Saturday, but it was part of the biggest television ratings bonanza ESPN and ABC have ever seen in the first week of college football. 

The Tigers’ game against LSU last Saturday night on ABC was one of three contests that surpassed 10 million, joining Notre Dame-Miami from Sunday night and Alabama-Florida State from Saturday afternoon, the network announced on Wednesday.  

Four ABC games averaged 8.6 million viewers, the highest ever for the network on opening weekend. Across all ESPN networks, the World Wide Leader in Sports averaged over 4 million viewers.

ESPN's lead-in show “College GameDay” also set a record with 4 million viewers, making last Saturday the most-watched episode ever. It peaked at 5.7 million viewers, likely during the final segment for legendary analyst Lee Corso after 38 years on the show. 

Clemson came up a touchdown short against LSU, but the school has been moving the needle in college football for a decade, becoming one of the most-watched teams during that span. The hype for the LSU game was as intense as any in the program’s lengthy, historic history, so it’s no surprise to see their showdown rank so high. 

It was one of three top-10 matchups, the most ever for the opening weekend. 

Also, talk of NIL, transfer portal, and revenue share turning fans away from the sport certainly isn’t showing up in the ratings. College football is off to as healthy a start as we’ve seen in recent years. 

And despite the 0-1 start, Clemson will continue to be one of the schools getting a large number of eyeballs all season. 

Even better news for their conference is that they weren’t the only ACC team to land on this list. Miami, Florida State, North Carolina, Virginia Tech, and Georgia Tech all made the list, helping drive revenue for the entire league.