Red River Showdown Hit Record Viewership on ESPN's College GameDay
This past Saturday's Red River Rivalry between the Texas Longhorns and the Oklahoma Sooners was definitely a game that will be memorable for years to come, not only because of the nail-biting outcome or that this was the last Big 12 showdown, but because of the record-breaking viewers of the ESPN's College Gameday show.
An average of about 2.3 million people were viewing the episode, which marked the second-best pre-November episode since 2010 and was recorded as the most-watched show of the entire season. ESPN's Kirk Herbstreit was ecstatic over Twitter(X).
"What a scene," Herbstreit wrote. "Incredible energy from the crowd. This rivalry and setting are truly special to the fabric of CFB-was our honor to be there and take it all in from 9 a.m. till the final whistle. What a blast!"
Texas Longhorn QB Quinn Ewers gets tackled on Saturday in Dallas against Oklahoma.
© Jerome Miron, USA TODAY
There were also about 3.1 million viewers watching within the final hour.
Between ABC and ESPN2' “Field Pass with Pat McAfee”, the averaged was around 8.1 million viewers. This marked the second-most watched Red River Rivalry Showdown, behind in 2009, in history.
Compared to last season when the Longhorns shut out the Sooners 49-0, there was a 135 percent increase in viewership this past Saturday when the teams met in Dallas at the Cotton Bowl.
For every game except one this season, ESPN has had college football's most viewed matchup. In Week 6, the No. 2 most viewed presentation was CBS' showing of the 26-20 Alabama Crimson Tide victory over Texas A&M in Kyle Field in College Station.
