Ad Disclosure
Michigan-Ohio State clash scores FOX a historic weekend
Published:
If you weren’t watching Michigan-Ohio State this past Saturday, you missed out.
Not only did Jim Harbaugh beat Ohio State for the first time, but the B1G East showdown also set some viewership records as well for Fox’s Big Noon Kickoff show.
It was the most-watched college football game ever on FOX.
With 15,893,000 viewers on FOX, Saturday’s Ohio State-Michigan matchup ranks as @CFBonFOX’s most watched college football game ever 🥇
Starting at 11:00 AM ET, #BigNoonKickoff scored 3,392,000 viewers, it’s best regular season performance ever 🎉 pic.twitter.com/f5fOtaM4Hv
— FOX Sports PR (@FOXSportsPR) December 1, 2021
There were 15.8 million people watching on Saturday, a 27% increase from the last time this rivalry was played (12.5 million viewers in 2019). In terms of regular-season games regardless of network, it was the most-watched game since Alabama and LSU met in November 2019.
It was also, according to Sports Media Watch, the most-watched game in the rivalry, since the 2016 matchup that was broadcast on ABC. For that one, 16.8 million tuned in. Many fans remember that game very well, as J.T. Barrett had a first down ruling that some people found controversial when it was all said and done.
And despite ESPN hosting its College GameDay pregame show from the same location, FOX’s competing pregame show, “Big Noon Kickoff,” scored its best regular-season performance ever.
Grant Bricker covers the B1G for Saturday Tradition. His previous stops include the Williamson Homepage and Nashville Post.