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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
National
Via AP news wire

Indiana's CFP victory over Miami averages 33.9 million viewers, most-watched game in 11 years

APTOPIX CFP National Championship Football - (Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

Top-seeded Indiana's victory over Miami in the College Football Playoff national championship game on Monday night was the most watched college football game in 11 years.

The Hoosiers' 27-21 victory over the 10th seeded Hurricanes for their first football national title averaged 30.1 million viewers, according to Nielsen. It also is the second-most watched CFP title game and cable telecast on record. Ohio State's win over Oregon in January 2015, still has the record at 33.9 million.

According to ESPN, it was the most-viewed, non-NFL sports telecast since Game 7 of the 2016 World Series between the Chicago Cubs and Cleveland. It is the fourth-most watched college football game in the last 30 years and the eighth-most watched ESPN production since the network started in 1979.

ESPN had its highest-viewed event on Sunday when the Houston Texans-New England Patriots NFL playoff game averaged 37.97 million.

Monday night's audience peaked at 33.2 million viewers in the first half.

The 11 College Football Playoff games averaged 16.3 million viewers in its second year of the 12-team format.

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Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here. AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football

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