Longhorns' Upset Of Alabama Is Highest-Viewed Game On ESPN Since 2015
The Texas Longhorns and Alabama Crimson Tide make up two of the country's biggest fanbases, but they weren't the only ones to tune in to Saturday's heavyweight bout.
ESPN public relations announced Tuesday that 8.76 million viewers tuned in with a peak at 10.7 million viewers to see the Longhorns' 34-24 upset of the Crimson Tide, making it the "best" regular-season game on the network since 2015 and the most-viewed Saturday matchup on ESPN since 20
The ESPN broadcast outpaced FOX's "Big Noon Saturday" Nebraska-Colorado matchup as the most-watched game of the week. The Cornhuskers and Buffaloes drew 8.73 million viewers, according to Fox Sports PR Tuesday.
ESPN rolled out a simulcast of "The Pat McAfee Show," which was broadcast live on the field at Bryant-Denny Stadium on ESPN2. It drew nearly 800,000 viewers, which is the most-watched ESPN simulcast since the 2018 national championship in which Alabama won 26-23 over Georgia in overtime.
ESPN went all in for its coverage and promotion of Texas-Alabama and it paid off.
On the Friday prior to the game, "The Pat McAfee Show" was live from Alabama's Quad on campus drawing a little over 100 in-person viewers and an unknown number of viewers on ESPN's airwaves. The show featured an on-site interview with Alabama head coach Nick Saban.
The following morning "College GameDay" was live from Tuscaloosa, Alabama, for the rematch of last year's 20-19 win over the Crimson Tide and Longhorns. Lee Corso, much to the chagrin of the home crowd, picked Texas to beat Alabama, which ended up improving his headgear season record to 2-0.
