The numbers prove Tennessee Vols football has been must-watch TV
The Tennessee Vols were understandably a curious team entering the 2023 college football season. On the heels of their first 11-win season since 2001 and major bowl game victory since the national championship win over Florida State, there was a lot of intrigue around Tennessee football. Based on the television numbers, that intrigue turned into […]
The Tennessee Vols were understandably a curious team entering the 2023 college football season. On the heels of their first 11-win season since 2001 and major bowl game victory since the national championship win over Florida State, there was a lot of intrigue around Tennessee football.
Based on the television numbers, that intrigue turned into a lot of eyeballs on television screens on Saturday afternoons. The Vols ranked among the top teams in college football for average viewership in 2023.
Tennessee ended up sixth with an average of 4.57 million viewers per game among their seven Nielsen-rated games that they were on. Nielsen is the rating system used for tracking television viewership. According to McMurphy, the Nielsen system includes games on major networks but excludes conference channels, including the SEC Network.
Tennessee came in third among all teams in the SEC on Nielsen-rated games. Alabama with a whopping 7.12 million led the country, while two-time defending national champion Georgia finished just one spot ahead of the Vols at 5.9 million. It's interesting to just how much Colorado captured the attention the nation, as Deion Sanders' team earned a 6.00 million average viewership on the heels of a hot start and a swagger that ultimately fell off amid a 4-8 season.
The Vols' most-viewed game was on October 21 against Alabama, per Sports Media Watch. The matchup's 8.01 million viewers was down from the 2022 classic in Knoxville and didn't even top the week, as Penn State-Michigan reached 9.96 million. Tennessee did manage to top the ratings for one week – against Georgia on November 18. Their 5.73 million topped the 5.43 that Michigan-Maryland drew at noon on FOX.
The numbers, while high, did not reach the atmospheric levels in 2022, when the Vols put up huge marks. Tennessee was in the top five of weekly national viewing six times and topped 11 million viewers twice – against Alabama and Georgia.
Once again, the Vols will be a curious team to follow in 2024, with star QB Nico Iamaleava set to take over as the program's starter for years to come. If the Vols can start strong, then they could see their TV numbers closer to 2022's big numbers once again.
Josh Heupel identifies Vols signee that will have to get up to speed the fastest
One of Tennessee’s newest signees will likely have an important role quickly
