Alabama-Georgia title game scores big audience for ESPN

Source: USA Today, by Scott Gleeson and A.J. Perez

Monday night's national championship game telecast of Alabama's thrilling 26-23 overtime win against Georgia on ESPN was the second most-watched cable event ever, the network announced on Tuesday afternoon.

An average of 28.4 million people watched the College Football Playoff championship that was decided in overtime, a 13% increase from last year's similarly close nail-biter that saw Clemson edge Alabama.

Earlier Tuesday, ESPN reported the game scored an overnight rating of 16.7, up 9% from last year's title game. Only the Oregon-Ohio State CFP championship game in January 2015 had a bigger rating (18.8) and more viewers (33.9 million), which was also on ESPN.

"The record-breaking audiences, over the course of multiple years, clearly reinforce how the College Football Playoff has quickly established itself as an elite event on the sports calendar," Burke Magnus, ESPN's executive vice president of programming and scheduling, said in a statement. "Last night’s thrilling finish coupled with ESPN's innovative MegaCast presentation showcased the incredible strength of college football and the deep connection live sports have with fans."

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