Georgia Tech’s loss at North Carolina State on Saturday did not register a large television, at least not relative to some of the team’s other games this season.
According to ESPN, 604,000 viewers tuned in to see the Wolfpack beat Tech, then ranked No. 8 by The Associated Press and now ranked No. 16 in that poll and No. 17 in the College Football Playoff rankings. The 7:30 p.m. game was played during the same time as Game 7 of the World Series, which reportedly drew more than 16 million viewers in the United States, and with YouTube TV and Disney contract disputes blacking out the ESPN group of networks.
Six of Tech’s nine games this season have been televised by an ESPN network, and the reported numbers for those contests have given Tech an average of 2.3 million viewers and a total of 14 million. Viewership numbers for Tech’s games against Gardner-Webb (ACC Network Extra), Temple (The CW) and Virginia Tech (ACC Network) have not been made publicly available.
On Oct. 25, ESPN reported that 1.3 million viewers tuned in to watch Tech beat Syracuse 41-16. On Sept. 27, ESPN reported that 1.9 million viewers saw the Jackets knock off Wake Forest 30-29 in overtime. That matchup was the 10th-most-viewed college football game of that day.
On Sept. 13, ESPN reported that 4.8 million viewers watched Tech beat Clemson at Bobby Dodd Stadium, a game televised live by ESPN. The Jackets won on a 55-yard field goal by Aidan Birr as time expired.
On Aug. 29, ESPN reported 3.7 million viewers tuned in to Tech’s win at Colorado, a game also televised live by ESPN. The Jackets won that contest 27-20 after quarterback Haynes King’s 45-yard touchdown run with a little more than a minute left in the fourth quarter.
The viewership measurements are based on Nielsen’s Big Data + Panel methodology, combining Nielsen’s panel measurement with data from cable, satellite set-top boxes and smart televisions across 45 million households and 75 million devices.
The large TV audience this season is positive news for Tech as it relates to the ACC’s revenue-distribution model, which is based on viewership. The incentive-based model gives member schools the opportunity to earn increased viewership distributions from the ACC’s media revenues.
Tech averaged 3.1 million viewers during the 2024 season, a number aided by 4.1 million viewers for the Birmingham Bowl, 3.46 million during a win over Miami in Atlanta and 11.5 million during an eight-overtime loss at Georgia.
The Jackets are off this weekend and next play at 3:30 p.m. on Nov. 15 at Boston College on the ACC Network. A kickoff time and television network has not been determined for Tech’s Nov. 22 home finale against Pittsburgh.
Tech’s regular-season finale against Georgia at 3:30 p.m. Nov. 28 will be televised by ABC.
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