Image Credit: Christian Petersen/Getty ImagesThe Tostitos Bowl Championship Series (BCS) National Championship on ESPN pulled in 27.3 million viewers last night, making it the most-viewed cable program in history, according to the network.
The college football title game, in which the Auburn Tigers beat the Oregon Ducks with a 19-yard field goal as time expired, bested the previous ratings record set by 2009′s Green Bay Packers vs. Minnesota Vikings Monday Night Football game by nearly 5.5 million viewers.
The contest broke records on the digital platform, as well, after it became the most-watched college football game ever on ESPN3.com, with more than 619,000 unique viewers.
Well, I guess when you buy your quarterback, anything is possible. Enjoy it now Auburn fans. The NCAA will be taking this one away from you at some point in the future. You can only get away with so much before it bites you.
Prove it or STFU.
There will be proof in a year or two and Auburn can kiss this championship goodbye.
They won’t take away the championship, Newton would just lose his Heisman.
Hello! look how long the USC investigation took. This won’t be wrapped up anytime soon.
And Reggie should have never given back his Heisman. He didnt have any violations on the field. At what point does the NCAA look at its own system? Oh, that’s right – the day after never.
Even if Cam Newton did take money, who cares. How did that help him win this game. He didn’t take steroids, auburn didn’t play with more men, and the referees didn’t officiate to one team. Oregan fans and opposing fans should relax and learn to be better losers. Your team lost and auburn was the better team.
I never said I was an Oregon fan. And, yes, if and when they rule Newton ineligible for this season, Auburn will have to vacate all their wins for any game in which he played AND Cam would lose the Heisman. Just ask USC and Reggie Bush.
What do you mean who cares if he took money or not? It defeats the whole purpose of college athletics. Anyone who loves NCAA athletics should care. And before you say I’m an Orgeon fan, I’m from Kentucky and am neutral towards each university, so if anything I would root for the SEC team.
buddymooore, you are either stupid or naive. many of these kids come from nothing, have nothing. The NCAA and the schools make TONS of money off them. Meanwhile, they arent even allowed part time jobs. The NCAA must change! Look what they did to Jeremy Bloom! All his money was COMPLETELY unrelated to his collegiate football career, and they buried him. The NCAA should be the one investigated, most notably for its indentured servitude. these kids need more resources (it isn’t all about their own greed for fancy things), and the NCAA blissfully turns a blind eye.
Hi Pete Carroll – with NO punishment and a better job on top of that.
You sir, are an idiot. “Even if Cam Newton did take money, who cares. How did that help him win this game.” Umm…. BY HAVING HIM ON THE FIELD! It didn’t help Cam win the game, it helped Auburn win. It helped Auburn win a game they otherwise would not have even played in had they followed the rules.
sara, you are either stupid or naive. The majority of universities LOSE money on their athletic programs. The only sports that bring in ANY sort of revenue are football and basketball, yet all that money then has to get split among every other sport they have to offer including tennis, cross country, and womens sports, which don’t bring in a dime on their own.
But you’re right, many of these kids come from nothing and have nothing, just like the rest of the world. Unlike the rest of the world though, they get 100% of their school paid for INCLUDING room and board. If they need some extra money (which they do, but just spending money), instead of getting a part-time job like the rest of us do, they can get a small student loan like the rest of us also do.
They’re already in a better situation then the average college student, they get free education, free housing, free food… Any extra money they need for a year should total no more then $5000, or they’re spending money they don’t need to.
What possible reasoning can there be for Cecil Newton looking to get upwards of $200,000 for him? They wanted to make some money to stick in their pocket. That is against the rules, and defending it in any form is wildly stupid.
As for Jeremy Bloom:
Both he and his father knew what they were doing. They choose NCAA football over skiing, and then broke the NCAA’s rules, even after they tried to reach a compromise with him to allow him to receive some endorsements from skiing. They knew exactly what they were doing and it was 110% their fault.
By taking Auburn’s National title away the NCAA would punish “ONLY” the Auburn fans, many of whom have waited a lifetime for this championship. What is the point of sadeism after the fact. Punish Cam’s Dad if you must, but the Auburn fans are innocent.
I thought this game was boring….ROLL TIDE ROLL!!! QUACK QUACK QUACK!!!!
It may have been a bit sloppy at the start, but boring it was not.
I don’t understand why it was on cable and not network TV
Because ESPN bought the rights to air it…duh
Well, Laura, since Disney owns both ABC and ESPN, that doesn’t really explain it….duh
I was trying to figure that out too. It really should have been on network TV. Probably would have doubled those ratings.
Yeah, but to have that high of ratings NOT on a network is actually a much bigger deal than if they had gotten double that on a network.
That rating is a stunner for ESPN and cable tv. I still wonder what that would have been had Disney allowed ABC to air it instead. But I get it that they make a killing from cable subscribers and therefore run all their big sporting events on ESPN.
oh, but HOW on earth could ABC preempt The Bachelor? The horror!
Hello my family member! I wish to say that this article is amazing, great written and include approximately all vital infos. I would like to peer more posts like this .