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FSU football: TV viewership still top 15 nationally depsite last five years

By Kelvin Hunt

Florida State Seminoles running back Lawrance Toafili (9) and his teammates celebrate a touchdown. The Florida State Seminoles defeated the Massachusetts Minutemen 59-3 at Doak Campbell Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 23, 2021.Fsu V Umass Second Half289
Florida State Seminoles running back Lawrance Toafili (9) and his teammates celebrate a touchdown. The Florida State Seminoles defeated the Massachusetts Minutemen 59-3 at Doak Campbell Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 23, 2021.Fsu V Umass Second Half289 /
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FSU football fans anxiously wait to see what will happen with the next wave of conference realignment. There seems to be a small segment of fans who worry FSU won’t find a new home in the SEC or Big 10 if those two conferences decide to poach ACC teams.

The last five years have been well below FSU football standards, with a 26-33 record. However, FSU football routinely finds itself in ideal TV slots to pull good ratings. In fact, FSU football drew an average of 2.23 million viewers each game between 2015-19.

That includes two years of terrible FSU football in 2018-19. That average places FSU No. 14 nationally and No. 2 in the ACC behind Clemson (2.67 million). For context, that number is with Clemson operating at their peak historically, and barely surpassed FSU.

Here are the top 25 in viewership between 2015-19:

  1. Ohio State (5.19M)
  2. Alabama (5.09M)
  3. Michigan (4.18M)
  4. Notre Dame (3.61M)
  5. LSU (3.22M)
  6. Auburn (3.12M)
  7. Georgia (2.91M)
  8. Oklahoma (2.90M)
  9. Clemson (2.67M)
  10. Penn State (2.55M)
  11. Florida (2.46M)
  12. Wisconsin (2.27M)
  13. Texas (2.269M)
  14. Florida State (2.23M)
  15. Michigan State (2.20M)
  16. Southern Cal (1.98M)
  17. Texas A&M (1.851M)
  18. Tennessee (1.849M)
  19. Oklahoma State (1.64M)
  20. Mississippi (1.61M)
  21. Iowa (1.57M)
  22. Nebraska (1.51M)
  23. Miami (1.503M)
  24. TCU (1.495M)
  25. Stanford (1.43M)

If you think FSU has lost drawing power since 2019? A one-win FSU team traveled to UNC and drew 1.07 million viewers for a 3:30 p.m. contest on ESPN last year. TV experts understand the value of FSU football and routinely place them in primetime games.

Think about it, the Noles won three games in 2020 and got a Sunday primetime slot against Notre Dame. That game drew 7.75 million viewers and peaked at 8.8 million when the Noles forced overtime. FSU games against Clemson, Miami, and Florida all drew over one million viewers. They have done this during the worst stretch of FSU football in our lifetimes.

What do you think is going to happen when they begin to compete at a high level again? It’s going to happen, TV analysts likely believe it will happen as FSU improved immensely from 2020-21, while playing several games without their starting quarterback.

When it’s time for the SEC or Big 10 to make a move, FSU football will have a spot at the table. The program has proven too valuable when it comes to viewership.

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