Yellow Jackets’ win at Duke draws another solid viewership number
Georgia Tech’s 27-18 win at Duke on Saturday registered 1.7 million television viewers, according to ESPN.
The Yellow Jackets, ranked No. 12 in the AP Top 25 poll at the time and now ranked No. 7, trailed 10-7 in the third quarter before scoring 20 unanswered points. The victory moved Tech to 7-0 for the first time since 1966 and 4-0 in the ACC for the first time since 1998.
The game was televised live by ESPN at Wallace Wade Stadium in Durham, North Carolina.
Four of Tech’s seven games this season have been televised by the network, and the reported numbers for those contests have given Tech an average of 3.025 million viewers. Viewership numbers for Tech’s games against Gardner-Webb (ACC Network Extra), Temple (CW) and Virginia Tech (ACC Network) have not been made available.
On Sept. 27, ESPN reported that 1.9 million viewers saw the Jackets knock off Wake Forest 30-29 in overtime. That matchup was the 10th-most-viewed college football game of that day.
On Sept. 13, ESPN reported that 4.8 million viewers watched Tech beat Clemson at Bobby Dodd Stadium, a game televised live by ESPN. The Jackets won on a 55-yard field goal by Aidan Birr as time expired.
On Aug. 29, ESPN reported 3.7 million viewers tuned in to Tech’s win at Colorado, a game also televised live by ESPN. The Jackets won that contest 27-20 after Haynes King’s 45-yard touchdown run with a little more than a minute left in the fourth quarter.
The viewership measurements are based on Nielsen’s Big Data + Panel methodology, combining Nielsen’s panel measurement with data from cable, satellite set-top boxes and smart televisions across 45 million households and 75 million devices.
The large television audiences this season is positive news for Tech as it relates to the ACC’s revenue-distribution model, which is based on viewership. The incentive-based model gives member schools the opportunity to earn increased viewership distributions from the ACC’s media revenues.
Tech averaged 3.1 million viewers during the 2024 season, a number aided by 4.1 million viewers for the Birmingham Bowl, 3.46 million during a win over Miami in Atlanta and 11.5 million during an eight-overtime loss at Georgia.
At noon Saturday, Tech will host Syracuse (3-4, 1-3 ACC), and that game will also be televised by ESPN. A kickoff time and television designation for the Jackets’ following game, at North Carolina State on Nov. 1, will be announced Saturday.
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