Clemson vs. Alabama: Ratings for 2017 College Football Championship Revealed

ESPN's broadcast of the College Football Playoff National Championship between Alabama and Clemson delivered an overnight rating of 15.3 for the network, according to Derek Volner of ESPN MediaZone. 

That was a slight dip from last year's title game between the two teams, which delivered a 15.8 rating, and significantly down from 2015's Ohio State vs. Oregon tilt (18.5), per Sports TV Ratings.

Dan Wolken of USA Today wasn't surprised to see the ratings dip slightly:

Nancy Armour of USA Today, meanwhile, blamed the game's late start and the long broadcast for the decline:

While the television numbers were down, Volner reported the streaming numbers were up, with an average streaming audience of 710,000 viewers and 2,413,000 unique viewers overall. Both are records for ESPN's streaming coverage of college football.

Unique viewers went up 25 percent from last year's matchup and was the third-highest total in ESPN's streaming history, trailing two USA World Cup games.

The game was fantastic, as Clemson quarterback Deshaun Watson led the Tigers to a 35-31 upset win, throwing the game-winning score with just one second left on the clock. The matchup featured a slew of future NFL talent and was a rematch of Alabama's nail-biting 45-40 win from last season's title game.

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