In the US, college football is not just a game; it is a cultural heritage. It is a way of living for many people and a passion to hold on to. Whether it is tens of thousands of fans cramming up to witness the Iron Bowl or fans chanting tirelessly during the Red River Rivalry, you cannot take college football out of the hearts of the American people.
In 2022, the 65 universities in the top five athletic conferences generated a combined figure of more than $3.3 billion in revenue from their programmes. The following year (2023), the 18 universities in the most prestigious college gridiron competitions in the US, the Big Ten Conference, shared at least $1 billion for TV broadcasting money. All this is just to show you how big college football is in the country.
College football has affected various industries, one of them being fantasy sports. The sport is among the most popular in fantasy sports with various operators. You will find the operators offering promo codes to help fantasy players have a more engaging experience. For example, you can check out what Dabble Fantasy has to offer if you are a fan of college football fantasy and want to explore some stuff using promos.
A tradition rooted in generations
Watching college football is something that has been done by many families through the generations. If you love watching the sport (to whatever degree), there is almost a 100% chance that you have been watching it with your family as you were growing up. Grandparents, parents and children all gather every Saturday of the fall to cheer their favorite teams, despite the school they attended. It is best if you visit the field to watch the game in person, but even if that’s not possible, gathering in front of the TV is a common occurrence in many families.
Now, college football games are more than just a soft clash between two universities. They are rivalries that have been passed down over the years between communities. You see, the local college team is not just a team; it is the pride of the community. When it’s an interstate competition, you expect everyone in the particular state to back up their own.
For example, when you think about the clash between Arkansas and LSU, the Battle for the Boot goes way back to 1901. So far, with 70 meetings in total, LSU leads 43-23-2 with their latest clash being on October 19, 2024, in Fayetteville, LA. Whenever the two teams are playing, both states remain still as every lover of football rushes in to watch the brawl.
A breeding ground for future stars
The NFL is the most luxurious and popular pro league in the United States. However, college football is the ultimate stepping stone for athletes who see their future in the NFL. For many players, the dream of once being an NFL star begins on a college football field. This makes college football games very meaningful since people are not just seeing students fighting on the field; they see the future of the NFL.
Some of the most popular NFL players who started from college include:
- Tom Brady: One of the GOAT quarterbacks who started his career at the University of Michigan.
- Jerry Rice: Among the best wide receivers in the history of the NFL, who started out at Mississippi Valley State University.
- Barry Sanders: Pro football Hall of Famer who began at Oklahoma State University.
- Deion Sanders: His time at Florida State University honed his skills to become an outstanding cornerback.
However, you should not think that without college football, someone cannot make it to the NFL. Players like Brandon Aubrey of the Dallas Cowboys, Antonio Gates of the Chargers and Sav Rocca who played for the Eagles played in different sports before joining the NFL. But the bottom line is that college football is a where most NFL careers started and still is.
Expanding media coverage
College football stadiums are among the biggest stadiums across the globe. In fact, out of the 10 largest stadiums in the world, eight of them are college football stadiums. Now, apart from pulling large crowds through massive fields, college football has gone a notch higher to expand its media coverage.
In 2022, the national championship between Georgia and Texas Christian University had over 17 million viewers. Back in 2006, the brawl between the University of Southern California and the University of Texas attracted a 35 million viewership.
In the 2024 season, ESPN and ABC recorded a massive increase in viewership. For instance, ABC was the number one network for college football, with an average of 5.8 million viewers for all the regular season games. This was ABC’s best college football season since 2009, and was an astounding 56% Y-o-Y increase.
The media coverage of the sport has been increasing due to the evolving landscape of college athletics. ESPN and the College Football Playoff (CFP) extended their exclusive media rights agreement through to the 2031-32 season. ESPN has also been expanding its distribution to include Walt Disney Company linear to direct-to-consumer platforms in addition to broader sales and sponsorship programs.
Also, other digital platforms like Yahoo Sports are investing in the coverage of college football. And do not forget, we are in the era of social media where Instagram, TikTok and X are running the show.
With all these above-mentioned reasons, it is not hard to pinpoint why college football has been getting as much attention as it is getting. You can also be sure that the attention will not go down any time soon.
