Overnight rating down for College Football Playoff final

The new format seems to be a victor with over 30 million Americans watching the championship game last season, and an even bigger audience expected for this season’s championship between Alabama and Clemson.

The College Football Playoff has completely changed the game in Division I football.

The game, which was won by Alabama 45-40, scored a higher overnight rating than the final three BCS National Championships (2011, 2012 and 2013) and trailed only last year’s inaugural CFP National Championship and ESPN’s first-ever national championship game in 2010.

The 15 minutes before the game averaged 187,590 viewers on ESPN, according to Nielsen ratings supplied to the Sentinel.

Those ratings were enough to necessitate about million in advertising “make-goods”, where ESPN had to fork over ad time it guaranteed to buyers, Broadcasting & Cable reported.

The SEC Network will have the Finebaum Film Room with Paul Finebaum, Arkansas coach Bret Bielema and SEC Network analysts Greg McElory and Booger McFarland.

Spanish-Language Call (ESPN Deportes): Lalo Varela, Pablo Viruega, Bernardo Osuna, and Carlos Nava call the game in Spanish, available throughout the United States. Current ACC Replay Official Ralph Pickett and current SEC Replay Communicator Ben Oldham will take viewers through the full process of reviewing every play from their recreated replay booth set up in Bristol.

Data Center (ESPN3) – Analytical data and social media content throughout the game.

Sounds of the Game will be on ESPN Classic and espn3.com.