TV audience up slightly from last year for CFP championship

LSU’s national championship game victory against Clemson drew nearly 26 million viewers to ESPN, up slightly from last year’s final.

ESPN said Tuesday that viewership for the three-game College Football Playoff increased 4% from last season, when Clemson beat Alabama in the championship.

The network’s championship game megacast, which includes ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU and ESPNews, drew 25.6 million viewers. Last year’s megacast had 25.3 million viewers. The ESPN-only audience was also up over last year, from 24.3 million to 25 million.

Joe Burrow, the Heisman Trophy winner, led No. 1 LSU to a 42-25 victory Monday night in New Orleans. The game was 28-25 in the third quarter before LSU surged and put away the title early in the fourth quarter.

Overall, the television audience for New Year’s Six games were down 4% over last year for ESPN.