ESPN reported a solid TV rating for the 2025 FCS championship game, which was the third most-watched ever on one of its networks.
Days later, college football fans are still talking about Montana State’s overtime win over Illinois State in the 2025 FCS national championship game.
There were a lot of them who watched the 35-34 thriller Monday night.
On Thursday, ESPN reported its broadcast drew 2.3 million viewers, with a peak of 3.0 million, making it the third-most watched FCS championship game ever on one of its networks.
The title game helped ESPN to an 8% year-over-year increase in playoff viewership on its linear networks. The seven broadcasts averaged 1.4 million viewers, which marked the network’s high since 2009 (the other 16 games in the 24-team field were broadcast on ESPN+).
The championship game TV rating came on the heels of Montana State’s win over rival Montana in a national semifinal on Dec. 20, when ABC’s average of 2.8 million viewers made it the most-watched FCS playoff game on record.
The championship game high for an ESPN network was the 2019 final, when North Dakota State’s 28-20 win over James Madison averaged 2.68 million viewers for a Sunday afternoon game on ABC. NDSU’s 35-32 win over Montana State in the 2024 title game on ESPN on a Monday night drew an average of 2.41 million viewers.
In the 2025 title game at FirstBank Stadium in Nashville, Tennessee, Montana State survived as much as won the first FCS championship game to go into overtime.
Three different times, Illinois State trailed by 14 points, but the Redbirds rallied to tie the game in the fourth quarter and had a potential go-ahead field goal attempt blocked with a minute left, then took their first lead in overtime only to have the extra point blocked, allowing the Bobcats to claim the FCS title for a second time with Taco Dowler’s touchdown catch on 4th-and-10 followed by Myles Sansted’s PAT.
Montana State was a unanimous No. 1 in the season-ending Stats Perform FCS Top 25 Poll.
2025 FCS Playoff Game Averages on ESPN Linear Networks
FCS semifinal: Montana at Montana State (Dec. 20 on ABC), 2.8 million FCS championship: Illinois State vs. Montana State (Jan. 5 on ESPN), 2.3 million FCS quarterfinal: South Dakota at Montana (Dec. 13 on ABC), 1.9 million FCS quarterfinal: Villanova at Tarleton State (Dec. 13 on ESPN), 1.5 million FCS quarterfinal: Stephen F. Austin at Montana State (Dec. 12 on ESPN), 864,400 FCS semifinal: Illinois State at Villanova (Dec. 20 on ESPN2),335,000 FCS second round: Rhode Island at UC Davis (Dec. 6 on ESPN2), 138,400For more FCS football coverage, follow on social media at X, Facebook, Instagram and Bluesky.
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