The Georgia Bulldogs versus Clemson Tigers season-opener drew a massive national television audience despite the game being a slugfest. Georgia played Clemson at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina.
The Bulldogs prevailed with a nasty defense that held the Tigers to only three points and two rushing yards. Georgia’s defense provided the only score of the game, a Christopher Smith pick-six.
The game, which was televised on ABC, was the second-most-viewed Kickoff Saturday game in 15 years (on any network). Georgia-Clemson featured an average of 7.998 million viewers.
Comparably, the Alabama-Miami game averaged 5.025 million viewers. Alabama dominated Miami and did not have a very interesting fourth quarter.
The average TV viewership of the Georgia-Clemson game would have the third-highest rating of any regular season game in 2020. Only Georgia at Alabama and Clemson at Notre Dame had higher TV ratings last season.
As always, it helps that the Georgia-Clemson game was a tight battle and televised at the 7:30 p.m. primetime slot. Additionally, the Labor Day weekend helped increase the audience as well.
It’s great to have college football fans back in the stadium in 2021. College football has a complete different feel with a full stadium. Georgia faces UAB next week in a game that won’t likely draw such a massive television audience.
