No. 1 Ohio State at Virginia Tech was the best opening weekend game ever on ESPN/ABC. It was also the third best regular-season game ever on ESPN and most-streamed regular-season college football game ever on WatchESPN.
| Rank | Viewership | Date | Network | Game |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 10,585,000 | Monday, Sept. 7, 2015 | ESPN | No. 1 Ohio State at Virginia Tech |
| 2. | 9,888,000 | Monday, Sept. 6, 2010 | ESPN | Boise State vs. Virginia Tech |
| 3. | 9,648,000 | Monday, Sept. 5, 2005 | ABC | Miami at Florida State |
| 4. | 9,142,000 | Monday, Aug. 31, 1998 | ABC | Texas A&M vs. Florida State |
| 5. | 9,120,000 | Monday, Sept. 4, 2006 | ESPN | Florida State at Miami |
Records date back to 1990 for ESPN, 1996 for ABC
The audience for the much anticipated Labor Day night matchup was the third most-viewed regular-season college football game ever on ESPN:
| Rank | Viewership | Date | Game |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 13,529,000 | November, 29, 2014 | Auburn at Alabama |
| 2. | 10,586,000 | Saturday, Nov. 24, 2012 | Notre Dame at USC |
| 3. | 10,585,000 | Monday, Sept. 7, 2015 | No. 1 Ohio State at Virginia Tech |
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Comments
We would've been #2 of most viewed regular season if not for those 1,000 people who didn't watch the game.
edit: It also speaks volumes to our scheduling when you look at the fact of us having #1 and #2 of the top viewed opening weekend games in history
It also helps to be on a Monday and be the only football game (college or NFL) on in the entire country.
Hopefully everyone just watched the second quarter.
The top 2 spots are both VT losses. I am truly a sad panda now. Sure wish we could have edged one of those out.
Unfortunately they are both VT losses, hard to swallow for different reasons, but certainly good to see that the OOC scheduling by the Athletic Dept and Jim Weaver led to some excellent exposure for the school and the program on a great stage.
I love that we have the top two spots, and I love that we aren't afraid to take on the competition. But when you look into it, there's a reason VT is looked down on as a doormat. The casual fan is only used to seeing VT go down.
My boss (from England, a casual fan) was surprised too with VT's halftime lead. Said they looked scrappy and surprised they gave OSU such a game, which made it interesting. Also said he knew the outcome once Brewer couldn't return.
I think the "casual fan" realizes were not supposed to win (but did anyway last year.)
Wow, I didn't realize that the Labor Day games could bring in so many viewers, to the point that there's no Saturday games in the top five for opening weekend.
So, should we be expecting our 2018 game at FSU to be on Labor Day?
Dreaming of a Sr. Lawson or Jr. Jackson opening up against FSU on labor day. Problem is I can't tell if it's actually a nightmare yet.
With a R-Fr Brewer as the 2nd/3rd string option?
I'd take another Brewer in a heartbeat.
I would too, but I'm not sure if he ends up in Blacksburg.
Here are the three schools he's listed as having an interest in:
SMU-The only school to offer him a scholarship so far, Michael played for Chad Morris in HS and I believe Lake Travis still runs his offense. Would also allow him to stay in state if Texas doesn't offer
Texas-Where his father and grandfather played, Michael probably would have ended up there instead of TT as well, but only had a grayshirt offer out of high school and was blocked from transfering there when he left TT.
VT-Michael is currently here, giving us a chance at Charlie. But I think we only have a shot at landing him if Loeffler is still the OC. If Frank retires before it's time for him to sign a loi and we bring in a different OC/QB coach then I don't think he's as interested in the program (Unless we somehow land Chad Morris as our next HC, in that case I think we're more likely to be able to land him). Also he's currently rated a lot lower than the QB recruits that Loeffler has been bringing in. Andrew Ford was his lowest 247 composite at 0.8446 and Joshua Jackson is the lowest rated by 247 at 86. Charlie Brewer is only rated at 80 by 247 right now (no composite score yet), but it's still pretty early in the rating process for 2017 recruits so his stock could potentially rise.
I'm not saying he'd be the next starter, but if he has half of his brother's toughness and leadership, that can only be an asset to us. As much crap as he got from some of the fanbase, Hokie history should be very kind to Michael Brewer. Without him, I have no doubt that both the bowl streak and the decade(plus) of dominance would be over.
Not the Brewer who thought UVA was good program for a QB to transfer to...
FSU will be another strong non-conference opponent for us to play. Makes sense for ESPN to make the matchup.
Umm, do you know something we don't know about FSU leaving the ACC before 2018?
Or he's still partying like it's 1999.
I think there's an argument that all VT fans are still partying like it's 1999. Nothing wrong with it!
Hey, 1999 was a good year for me in football. High school won state championship, VT was on the way to the national championship, and Redskins got into the playoffs.
Now January 2000 was a different story....
We rarely play them so I assumed they were in another conference.
I would rather the 2018 home game against Notre Dame.
Because that would only give us 11 days of Hokies football instead of 12.
Math says you don't think we'd make the ACC title game or the playoffs... I don't think we can be friends anymore.
I was only counting the guaranteed games...don't want to jinx it too soon.
My quick analysis reveals a trend that the average viewer loves to watch VT lose regardless of the opponent.
So, we've got that going for us.
/s
Very, very important note:
A buddy at work mentioned that ESPN was considering a streaming service independent of cable. I did not ask for his #sources and cannot verify. I think we all know this will eventually happen but Disney needs to see that they can be profitable with a streaming service as opposed to hitching their wagon to cable service. I hope this point is not lost on everyone.
I can confirm that I know at least one person who streamed the game on a service independent of cable
And, how did that go.....
I watched it on SlingTV. Worked fine for me.