Ohio State-Notre Dame Game Absolutely Crushed It In The Ratings

September 7, 2022, 5:05pm EST (Updated: January 29, 2023, 8:14pm)By Darrelle Lincoln

COLUMBUS, OHIO – SEPTEMBER 03: Emeka Egbuka #2 of the Ohio State Buckeyes runs with the ball during the second quarter of a game against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at Ohio Stadium on September 03, 2022 in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Ben Jackson/Getty Images)

College football is back and so are the fans who couldn’t wait to watch football.

The top-five showdown between the Buckeyes and Fighting Irish had ESPN’s College GameDay in attendance and featured plenty of intriguing storylines leading up to the contest.

According to ESPN, the Ohio State-Notre Dame game crushed it in the ratings. 10.5 million viewers watched the game, making it the most-watched regular season game on an ESPN network since 2017.

The first weekend of @ESPNCFB DELIVERED

? Most-watched Kickoff Weekend since '16
? #NDvsOSU becomes the most-watched Week 1 Saturday game since '17
? Big superlatives for #FSUvsLSU & #OREvsUGA

Complete viewership coming later Wednesday pic.twitter.com/O2UBKLEAKD
— ESPN PR (@ESPNPR) September 7, 2022

The Seminoles and Tigers drew 7.55 million viewers as the night cap for college football played on Sunday. Defending national champion Georgia’s season-opening contest against Oregon brought in 6.3 million viewers in the 3:30 p.m. window on Saturday.

The other 11 games last year brought in roughly 5 million viewers per contest.