*Actually, it's for 2019-2023 (haven't yet put them in for this year). Viewership Score gives an idea of what the average viewership would be for a team if all games were aired on a Nielsen-rated network. But it gives an idea of why networks aren't shaking in their boots about "well then fans of other schools might just say no thank you"
Those teams that aren't in the B1G or SEC are in bold.
- Alabama 5.76M
- Ohio St 5.58M
- Michigan 4.93M
- Georgia 4.75M
- Notre Dame 3.37M
- Penn St 3.30M
- Tennessee 3.16M
- Texas 2.90M
- LSU 2.90M
- Florida 2.82M
- Auburn 2.69M
- Clemson 2.63M
- Oregon 2.62M
- Oklahoma 2.61M
- Texas A&M 2.51M
- Florida St 2.40M
- Michigan St 2.30M
- Nebraska 2.22M
- USC 2.09M
- Wisconsin 2.05M
- Washington 2.05M
- Ole Miss 2.04M
- Arkansas 1.93M
- Colorado 1.85M
- TCU 1.68M
- Indiana 1.66M
- Miami 1.63M
- Oklahoma St 1.60M
- Iowa 1.59M
- Utah 1.39M
- Kentucky 1.39M
- UNC 1.36M
- Minnesota 1.34M
- UCLA 1.32M
- Mississippi St 1.27M
- Maryland 1.26M
- Iowa St 1.25M
- South Carolina 1.22M
- Missouri 1.18M
- Navy 1.17M
- West Virginia 1.11M
- Georgia Tech 1.10M
- Louisville 1.10M
- Washington St 1.09M
- Oregon St 1.07M
- Baylor 1.04M
- Kansas St 1.03M
- Army 1.01M
- BYU 1.01M
- Purdue 0.99M
Do we really think they're concerned about losing those teams? If they can add Notre Dame, Clemson, Florida St and Miami and maybe UNC, then the strongest viewing teams they miss out on are....
- Colorado (unsustainably high due to the Deion factor, not a consistent draw)
- TCU (number is elevated from the national championship run, not a huge fan base normally)
- Oklahoma St (ok, this team is accurately represented and likely the biggest possible viewership loss)
- Utah (I've heard they're only high because they play good teams, so why not just take the good teams...?)
- Navy (an outlier based on two huge draws in the Notre Dame and Army games)
None of those are brands that are going to kill college football to lose those. FOX and ESPN just aren't quaking in their boots wondering how they'll survive without the Utah fanbase tuning in