The official kickoff to the college football season provided another reminder of how football can boost audiences across all platforms, with ESPN and ABC reporting hefty increases in audiences for both linear TV and engagement on social media.
ESPN’s Nielsen-rated networks airing college football – ABC, ESPN and ESPNU – averaged 3.1 million viewers in Week 1, up 44 percent over 2023. That was the largest audience for Kickoff Week across ESPN platforms since 2016, according to a ESPN blog.
