FBS college football games generated 248 billion minutes of TV viewing in 2023. The 2024 season will see the most widespread changes to conference membership in many years as 14 schools switch leagues. Those changes will drive a massive reallocation in each conference’s share of TV viewing.
iSpot examined college football TV viewing during the 2023 season across all national and conference networks. iSpot measured the total number of viewing minutes for 587 televised FBS games and calculated the share that each conference accounted for given their 2023 membership.
To assess the impact of conference realignment, iSpot recalculated the share of 2023 TV viewing based on the new memberships that are debuting this season.
The new configurations of the Big Ten and SEC accounted for more than 57% of all FBS college football viewing last season.
- The Big Ten stands to gain the most in 2024, as that conference saw a +44% increase in viewing share when USC, UCLA, Oregon and Washington are included with their prior tally.
- The SEC grew by +22% when Texas and Oklahoma are added.
- The Pac 12 – which was the 3rd most-viewed conference in 2023 – loses 88% of their viewing time as ten of their members exit the league.
- The ACC experienced modest share gains as new schools were added (+10% from Cal, SMU and Stanford) while the Big 12 offset the loss of Texas and Oklahoma with 4 additions (+4% from Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah).
Six of the top 15 schools for total minutes of TV viewing time are moving into new conferences this season, with half of them joining the Big Ten. New conference matchups will undoubtedly trigger new TV viewing trends.
iSpot provides measurement for rights holders and brands as they seek to understand the engaged and valuable college football audience. Schedule a meeting with an iSpot expert to learn more about our Sports Measurement solutions.
About the Author
David Coletti is the Vice President of Sports Research & Insights at iSpot, where he spearheads advancement in sports measurement capabilities. With over two decades of related experience at Disney/ESPN, Mr. Coletti is a distinguished figure in the media research community. As Vice President of Research and Insights at Disney, he established the Media Distribution Insights group to improve negotiation strategies with distributors. At ESPN, he was instrumental in incorporating streaming audiences into viewership metrics and helped establish the ESPN+ consumer research unit. His expertise in storytelling and delivering actionable insights make him a pivotal figure in sports media innovation.