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[01/23/26 - 10:31 AM]
"College GameDay Built by The Home Depot" Closes Out Historic Season with 2.6 Million Viewers Highlighting Hurricanes and Hoosiers
The six postseason GameDay shows delivered 2.4 million average viewers, up 30 percent year-over-year.
[via press release from ESPN]

"College GameDay Built by The Home Depot" closes out historic season with 2.6 million viewers highlighting Hurricanes and Hoosiers

· College GameDay from the CFP National Championship scored 2.6 million viewers

· The six postseason GameDay shows delivered 2.4 million average viewers, up 30 percent year-over-year

· This season, CGD registered four of the most-viewed postseason episodes and the top nine most-watched regular season episodes ever

ESPN's College GameDay Built by The Home Depot finished a truly historic year as the confetti fell on the 2025-26 college football season, delivering record-breaking audiences across the regular season and the 11-game College Football Playoff. From unprecedented fan engagement to landmark viewership milestones, the show reinforced its position as the preeminent college football pregame show.

College GameDay drove viewership momentum throughout the College Football Playoff, scoring 2.6 million viewers leading into Monday night's championship matchup, up 45 percent year-over-year and the sixth best postseason episode ever.

CGD at the Playoff Semifinal at the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl drew 2.9 million viewers, the third most-watched postseason College GameDay on record. The show averaged 2.4 million viewers across both CFP First Round telecasts, led by 2.6 million viewers on Friday night at Oklahoma (up 87 percent year-over-year with two fewer hours) and 2.2 million viewers on Saturday morning at Texas A&M (up 6 percent year-over-year). In total, the six postseason episodes of College GameDay delivered 2.4 million viewers, up 30 percent year-over-year.

The show in College Station featured the second ever in-stadium edition of Pat McAfee's Kicking Contest, with 100,000 fans cheering the contestant on. Since its inception in 2023, McAfee has given out $2.9 million to students and $3.35 million to charity, all on his own dime.

Top 10 Postseason College GameDay Episodes All Time

Rank Date Network Viewers
1 01/07/2013 ESPN 3.14 million
2 01/10/2011 ESPN 2.96 million
3 01/09/2026 ESPN/ESPNU 2.92 million
4 01/02/2014 ESPN 2.71 million
5 01/06/2014 ESPN 2.63 million
6 01/19/2026 ESPN/ESPNU 2.62 million
7 01/04/2011 ESPN 2.62 million
8 12/19/2025 ESPN 2.62 million
9 01/08/2026 ESPN/ESPNU 2.62 million
10 01/04/2006 ESPN 2.60 million

College GameDay had its most-watched regular season ever, averaging 2.7 million viewers over 15 weeks - up 22 percent across the regular season and conference championship weekend - more than doubling the audience of its competition. The season featured the nine most-watched regular season episodes ever, led by Lee Corso's final show in Week 1 with 4.0 million viewers. Growth was especially strong among women (up 34 percent) and viewers under 25 (up 35 percent). Even without Nielsen Big Data measurement, College GameDay Built by The Home Depot would be up 12 percent across the regular season.

Top 10 Regular Season College GameDay Episodes All Time

Season Date Week Location P2+ Viewers
2025 Aug 30 1 Columbus, Ohio 4.0 million
2025 Nov 29 14 Ann Arbor, Mich. 3.1 million
2025 Oct 4 6 Tuscaloosa, Ala. 2.8 million
2025 Sep 20 4 Miami, Fla 2.8 million
2025 Nov 22 13 Eugene, Ore. 2.7 million
2025 Oct 18 8 Athens, Ga. 2.7 million
2025 Oct 11 7 Eugene, Ore. 2.7 million
2025 Sep 13 3 Knoxville, Tenn. 2.7 million
2025 Sep 6 2 Norman, Okla. 2.6 million
2007 Nov 24 13 Kansas City, Mo. 2.6 million

Throughout the season, College GameDay Built by The Home Depot amplified its on site energy with memorable celebrity guest pickers, musical artists, larger-than-life marketing activations and more. The show's major live music moments, such as Bailey Zimmerman and Luke Combs at Georgia and Kenny Chesney and Dierks Bentley at Vanderbilt, energized fans in the crowd and television viewers alike. These concerts complemented this season's roster of celebrity guest pickers, ranging from professional athletes such as Patrick Mahomes, Sabrina Ionescu, Aaron Donald, Aidan Hutchinson, Matthew Tkachuk, Alex Smith and Trae Young to entertainers Jelly Roll, Nate Bargatze, Inside The NBA's Ernie Johnson and Theo Von, and more.

ESPN Marketing utilized multiple activations throughout the season to continue to engage fans on site, including a t-shirt trailer with custom site-specific shirts and its "Big Congrats" campus installation stunt, featuring a massive 12-by-20 foot congratulatory signs at Oklahoma and Texas A&M. All of this combines with GameDay's storytelling to extend ESPN's brand across every facet of a football fan's Saturday.

All of ESPN. All in One Place.

ESPN offers its full suite of networks and services directly to fans on the ESPN App, providing more choice, flexibility and access to all of ESPN, including more than 47,000 live events per year, on-demand replays, industry-leading studio shows and original programming, and more. The ESPN App gives fans a unique viewing experience that includes multiview and synchronized two-screen viewing options, swipe-able vertical video and a personalized SportsCenter For You, as well as integrated game stats, ESPN Fantasy sports, betting odds and information from DraftKings, sports merchandise, and more. These features are available to all fans who watch on the ESPN App on mobile and connected TV devices, whether they subscribe directly or through a pay TV package. Bundling options available for fans include a limited time offer for the ESPN DTC Unlimited plan with Disney+ and Hulu for $29.99/month for the first 12 months. For more visit stream.espn.com.

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