North Dakota State Justifies ESPN’s Decision For College Gameday

On By admin

ESPN College Gameday 2013

By Chuck Burton
Publisher/Managing Editor
College Sports Journal

PHILADELPHIA, PA. — Georgia, Washington, Clemson, Oregon, Florida State, USC and North Dakota State.

 

What do all these schools have in common?

 

They, or their surrounding areas, all hosted Lee Corso, Chris Fowler and Kirk Herbstreit as a part of ESPN’s College Gameday this season.

 

And of the College Gameday broadcasts this season from these six college football towns, which one got the most viewers?

 

The one at North Dakota State.

 

 

 

The range of viewership of ESPN College Gameday for the 2013 regular season ranged from a low of 1,620,000 viewers (Oregon/Washington) to a high of 2,112,000 viewers (Georgia/Clemson).

 

September 21st’s ESPN College Gameday broadcast of Delaware State at North Dakota State, had 1,828,000 viewers, outperforming the viewership of that program from a variety of different BCS-level schools.

 

North Dakota State’s College Gameday viewership even outperformed the ratings that the show received when it was broadcasting from the Big 10 Championship game in Indianapolis (1,815,000).

 

For the season, ESPN College Football Gameday averaged 1.83 million viewers per week, meaning their trip to Fargo hit almost exactly their average for the season.

 

Anyone who thought that ESPN’s decision to broadcast from an FCS school was a mistake might want to think again after seeing that its ratings outperformed broadcasts from much larger BCS-level schools.

 

2013 ESPN College Football Gameday Viewership (1,000s)

 

8/31
 Georgia-Clemson
2,112
9/7
 Notre Dame-Michigan
1,832
9/14
 Alabama-Texas A&M
1,874
9/21
 Delaware State-North Dakota State
1,828
9/28
 LSU-Georgia
1,790
10/5
 Ohio State-Northwestern
1,688
10/12
 Oregon-Washington
1,620
10/19
 Florida State-Clemson
1,821
10/26
 UCLA-Oregon
1,680
11/2
 Miami-Florida State
1,823
11/9
 LSU-Alabama
1,877
11/16
 Stanford-USC
1,768
11/23
 Baylor-Oklahoma State
1,787
11/30
 Alabama-Auburn
2,052
12/7
 Big Ten Championship: Michigan State-Ohio State (Indianapolis)
1,815

Source: Sports Business Daily

Post Views: 1,576