Here's How Many People Watched The Michigan-Ohio State Game: Why It's Important

Known as “The Game,” the rivalry between the University of Michigan and Ohio State University football teams is one of the most talked-about and watched games during the college football season. The 2021 game featured the two teams who are ranked in the top five and broke viewership records.

What Happened: The matchup between Ohio State and Michigan on Nov. 27 was watched by 15.89 million people. The game aired on Fox, a unit of Fox Corp FOX.

Viewership figures made the game the most-watched regular-season college football game on Fox ever. Viewership was up 27% from “The Game” in 2019, which was the last time the two teams met.

Fox reported viewership was the highest for any college football regular-season game on any network since Alabama and Louisiana State University played in November 2019.

Along with strong viewership of the game, Fox reported its “Big Noon Kickoff” pre-game show was watched by 3.39 million people, its best figure for a regular-season college football preview.

Other rivalry games played on Nov. 27 saw strong viewership including Alabama and Auburn on CBS, a unit of ViacomCBS Inc VIAC, which had 10.37 million viewers.

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Why It’s Important: Along with airing the Ohio State and Michigan matchup, Fox is the home to the Big Ten Championship game, which features Michigan and the University of Iowa. The game airs on Fox on Sat. Dec. 4 at 8 p.m. ET. Currently, Michigan is a 10.5-point favorite versus Iowa on the Draftkings Inc DKNG sports betting app.

Before the Ohio State-Michigan matchup, the best performing game for viewers on Fox this season was Michigan and Michigan State, which was watched by 9.29 million people. The strong viewership from the rivalry games at the end of the season could signal a ratings rebound for bowl games and the college football playoffs.

Last year’s College Football Championship was the lowest watched championship game in the playoff and bowl championship series era. The game between the University of Alabama and Ohio State was watched by 18.65 million people on ESPN, a unit of Walt Disney Co DIS.

The 2020 Championship game’s viewers were down 27% year-over-year and beat a previous low of 21.42 million viewers by a significant margin. The two college football semifinal playoff games in 2020 had a viewership of 19.15 million and 18.89 million, down 2% from the previous year.

Advertisers could be lining up to advertise during the Big Ten Championship game and College Football Playoffs with the rebound in viewers.

One of the most-watched games of the season was University of Georgia and Clemson University, which aired on Disney-owned ABC on Sept. 4 and was watched by 8.86 million people.

FOX Price Action: Fox shares are up 0.47% to $32.37 on Thursday morning at publication.

Photo: Missy Caulk via Flickr