July 18, 2016
Three University of Notre Dame games ranked among the 50 most-watched sporting events in the first half of 2016-and no college placed more events on that list than the Irish did.
Here’s where the Notre Dame events appeared, as charted by Sports Media Watch:
- The Notre Dame-North Carolina men’s basketball game in the NCAA Elite Eight ranked 35th (5.8 rating, 10.11 million viewers on TBS).
- The Notre Dame-Ohio State Fiesta Bowl football game ranked 38th (5.6 rating, 9.76 million viewers on ESPN).
- The Notre Dame-Stephen F. Austin men’s basketball game in the NCAA Championship ranked 46th (8.39 million viewers on CBS).
No other institution was represented in both football and men’s basketball on the top 50 list. Villanova and North Carolina also had three events on the list-all in men’s basketball.
The Irish Fiesta Bowl appearance ranked as the third highest college football game-following the CFP national championship game between Alabama and Clemson (12th) and the Rose Bowl between Stanford and Iowa (27th).
The Notre Dame-North Carolina men’s game ranked sixth among the nine men’s college basketball games on the list.
Pro football games claimed the top 10 spots on the chart.
CBSSports.com recently rated its top college programs, with football and men’s basketball considered on a combined basis-and Notre Dame ranked 10th.