- Viewership up 8% over 2023-24 season, most-watched primetime slate in five years and most-watched Saturday slate in six years
- Across ESPN platforms, seven games surpassed 2 million viewers, the most for any network the past six seasons
- Most-watched Men’s Champ Week across ESPN platforms in six years
The men’s college basketball regular season across ESPN platforms finished the 2024-25 campaign up 8% across from last year and aired seven of the top 10 men’s college basketball games of the season across all networks. Those seven games all surpassed 2 million viewers – the most for any network in the past six seasons.
Games in February and March across ESPN platforms averaged 1.2 million viewers – up 18% from last year and the best average for these months since the 2018-19 season.
The Saturday slate on ESPN finished as the most watched in six years – up 16% year-over-year, including the top 10 most-viewed Saturday games across all networks. The final day of regular season play, Saturday, March 8, was ESPN’s most-watched college basketball Saturday in three years, averaging 1.7 million viewers across five games.
ESPN’s 17 Sonic Blockbuster windows averaged 1.9 million viewers, up 10% year-over-year, and finished as the most-viewed since 2018.
ESPN platforms recorded more than half of all men’s college basketball consumption with 53% of minutes watched across all nationally-rated networks. Viewership gains across ESPN platforms were largest among women, up 12% from the 2023-24 season.
Individual Network Growth
ABC, ESPN and ESPN2 all grew their respective audiences during the 2024-25 regular season:
- ESPN averaged 968,000 viewers, up 9% year-over-year – the best season in six years.
- ABC rose by 3% – the most-watched season since 2008-09.
- ESPN2 surged 6% from the 2023-24 season.
- ABC and ESPN finished the regular season as the No. 1 and No. 3 most-viewed networks this season, respectively.
2024-25 Top Regular Season Men’s College Basketball Games Across ESPN Platforms:
| Date | Platform | Game | Viewers |
| Sat, Mar 8 | ESPN | No. 2 Duke at North Carolina | 2,998,000 |
| Sat, Feb 15 | ESPN | No. 1 Auburn at No. 2 Alabama | 2,760,000 |
| Sat, Feb 1 | ESPN | North Carolina at No. 2 Duke | 2,290,000 |
| Sat, Feb 22 | ESPN | No. 17 Kentucky at No. 4 Alabama | 2,171,000 |
| Sat, Feb 8 | ESPN | No. 2 Duke at Clemson | 2,102,000 |
| Sat, Mar 8 | ESPN | No. 7 Alabama at No. 1 Auburn | 2,076,000 |
| Tue, Nov 26 | ESPN | No. 1 Kansas at No. 11 Duke | 2,019,000 |
| Sat, Mar 1 | ESPN | No. 6 Alabama at No. 5 Tennessee | 1,966,000 |
| Sat, Feb 1 | ESPN | Arkansas at No. 12 Kentucky | 1,936,000 |
| Tue, Nov 12 | ESPN | No. 6 Duke at No. 19 Kentucky | 1,836,000 |
*Rankings reflective at the date of the game
Champ Week Growth
This year’s extensive Champ Week Presented by Principal coverage delivered its largest audience since 2019, with the 70 games across ESPN/ESPN2/ESPNU up 21% from 2024.
The ACC Championship game between Louisville and Duke drew 3.1 million viewers while the Duke vs. UNC semifinal delivered 2.3 million viewers, peaking at 3.7 million. The Big 12 Championship game between Arizona and Houston netted 2.2 million viewers, up 6% year-over-year. Overall, the nine Big 12 Conference games on ESPN/ESPN2 finished up 22% from 2024.
The SEC Championship game between Tennessee and Florida was ESPN platforms’ top game of the week, averaging 3.1 million viewers – the most-watched SEC Championship game in nine years, up a staggering 74% from 2024.
Other Champ Week viewership gains:
- American – Up 59%
- Big Sky – Up 7%
- Ivy League – Up 3%
- Southern – Up 74%
Studio Programming
ESPN’s men’s basketball College GameDay Covered by State Farm hit the road for its 21st season, making seven on-campus stops ahead of its live special from the SEC Championship in Nashville, Tenn. Hosted by Rece Davis alongside analysts Jay Bilas, Andraya Carter, Seth Greenberg, Jay Williams and, in his first year with the program, insider Pete Thamel, the premier pregame show had its most-watched regular season since 2020.
GameDay’s season featured on-campus shows across three conferences – ACC and Big 12 (twice each), and SEC (three). The March 8 visit to Chapel Hill, N.C., ahead of the No. 2 Duke at UNC matchup marked the most-watched regular season episode since 2018.
College GameDay returns with special post-season editions on March 22, 23, 29 and 30, live from ESPN’s Bristol, Conn., studios, before traveling to San Antonio for the Men’s Final Four (April 5-7).
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