Michigan vs. Washington Averages 25M Viewers; Most-Watched CFP Title Game Since 2020

Michigan's convincing 34-13 win over Washington in the National Championship Game on Monday night delivered ESPN's MegaCast presentation 25 million viewers, the most since the 2020 iteration of the game.

As for the College Football Playoff in general, the three games in total accounted for the most viewers since 2018.

The NFL remains the king of ratings in United States sports, with the top 56-watched athletics broadcasts in 2023, per Jon Lewis of Sports Media Watch. Had the National Championship Game fallen during the 2023 calendar year, it would have ranked just 30th on that list.

Unsurprisingly, Fox's Super Bowl broadcast was easily the most watched of the year, attracting 112.1 million viewers.

The largest college football broadcast in the calendar year of 2023 also included Michigan, with its rivalry game against Ohio State drawing 19 million viewers for Fox. That was the largest non-NFL broadcast of the year in sports.

College football accounted for the three highest non-NFL broadcasts of the year in the industry, with the SEC Championship Game between Georgia and Alabama drawing 17.5 million viewers and Georgia's blowout win over TCU in last year's National Championship Game bringing in 17.2 million watchers.

The Men's National Championship Game in college basketball between UConn and San Diego State (14.6 million) and horseracing's Kentucky Derby (14.4 million) rounded out the non-NFL top five.

This year's National Championship Game was just the second time in the 10-year history of the CFP that an SEC team wasn't featured. Twice, the natty featured two SEC teams.

But Michigan proved to be a ratings driver, as its Rose Bowl win over Alabama in the CFP semifinals drew a massive 27.7 million viewers across ESPN's multicast, per Lewis, the best ratings for a non-NFL sporting event since 2018.

Meanwhile, the Washington vs. Texas matchup in the Sugar Bowl drew 18.7 million viewers, meaning Michigan took part in the three largest broadcasts of the college football season.