Michigan-Ohio State Game Averages Over 19 Million Viewers, Scores College Football’s Biggest Regular-Season Audience in 12 Years

Daniel Frankel
·1 min read
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Michigan vs. Ohio State 2023.
Michigan vs. Ohio State 2023.

Fox’s broadcast Saturday of the Big Ten rivalry showdown between No. 2-ranked Michigan and No. 3 Ohio State averaged 19.07 million viewers, according to Nielsen data published by Sports Media Watch, ranking it as the most watched regular-season college football game in 12 years.

The November 25 game, which was placed in Fox’s top-shelf Big Noon Saturday slot, generated the largest regular season college football viewership since Southeast Conference foes LSU and Alabama faced off in Nos. 1-vs.-2 matchup back in 2011 that drew 20.01 million viewers.

Notable: That 2011 game came before Nielsen began including out-of-home viewing in its audience tally. Out-of-home viewing reportedly represented a large portion of the eyeballs that watched Michigan beat OSU 30-24 Saturday.

Also notable: It wasn't even the largest Michigan-vs.-OSU audience in Nielsen-recorded history. That high-water mark came with the so-called “Game of the Century” in 2006, which averaged 21.06 million watchers.