- Doubleheader Up 27% from 2016 Champions Classic
- First Game Window Up 54% Year-Over-Year; Second Game Window Also Increased Rating
- Louisville: No. 1 Market for Doubleheader and Both Game Windows
- College Football Playoff: Top 25 Earns Highest-Rated Tuesday Episode in Show’s Four Year History
The 2017 State Farm Champions Classic (7 p.m. – 9:30 p.m. and 10 p.m. – midnight, ESPN) delivered a 1.9 overnight, the second highest rating ever in the seven years of the annual premier early season college basketball event. The rating for last night’s doubleheader was up 27% from the 2016 Champions Classic and the best since 2013.
Locally, Louisville was the No. 1 market for the doubleheader, as well as both individual game windows. The top 10 markets for the doubleheader:
| Rank | Local Rating | Market |
| 1 | 13.1 | Louisville |
| 2 | 8.3 | Kansas City |
| 3 | 5.6 | Raleigh-Durham |
| 5.6 | Cincinnati | |
| 5 | 5.1 | Greensboro |
| 6 | 4.3 | Charlotte |
| 7 | 4.0 | Indianapolis |
| 8 | 3.9 | Norfolk |
| 3.9 | Dayton | |
| 10 | 3.7 | Detroit |
No. 1 Duke vs. No. 2 Michigan State Delivers in First Game Window
The 2017 Champions Classic first game between No. 1 Duke and No. 2 Michigan State (7 p.m. – 9:30 p.m.) delivered a 2.0 overnight, up 54% from 2016’s first game (Kentucky vs. Michigan State). Last night’s rating for the Blue Devils’ victory ranks as the highest-rated of the three matchups between the two schools at the event, beating their 2014 matchup by 33% and the 2011 matchup by 11%. All three matchups were the first game of the doubleheader.
Locally, after Louisville, Raleigh-Durham and Greensboro were the next highest markets. The top 10:
| Rank | Local Rating | Market |
| 1 | 10.4 | Louisville |
| 2 | 7.3 | Raleigh-Durham |
| 3 | 7.2 | Greensboro |
| 4 | 5.6 | Charlotte |
| 5 | 5.5 | Kansas City |
| 6 | 5.2 | Detroit |
| 7 | 5.0 | Cincinnati |
| 8 | 4.8 | Dayton |
| 9 | 4.7 | Indianapolis |
| 10 | 4.6 | Norfolk |
No. 7 Kentucky vs. No. 4 Kansas Increases Rating; Louisville with Impressive 16.4 Local Rating
The 2017 Champions Classic second game between No. 7 Kentucky and No. 4 Kansas delivered a 1.7 overnight, up 6% from last year’s second game (Duke vs. Kansas). The rating surpasses the overnight for the school’s first-ever matchup at the event in 2011 by 13% and equals the rating from their matchup in 2014. All three matchups were the second game of the doubleheader.
Locally, Kansas City was the second highest-rated market with a 11.8 rating. The complete top 10 markets:
| Rank | Local Rating | Market |
| 1 | 16.4 | Louisville |
| 2 | 11.8 | Kansas City |
| 3 | 6.2 | Cincinnati |
| 4 | 4.3 | Nashville |
| 5 | 3.6 | Knoxville |
| 6 | 3.5 | Raleigh-Durham |
| 7 | 3.2 | Indianapolis |
| 8 | 3.1 | Norfolk |
| 9 | 2.9 | Birmingham |
| 10 | 2.8 | Dayton |
Newest College Football Playoff Rankings Reveal Delivers Record Rating
The College Football Playoff: Top 25 (9:30 p.m. – 10 p.m.) which aired between the two games, unveiling the newest College Football Playoff selection committee’s top 25, earned a 2.4 overnight, the best rating ever in the more than 20 Tuesday episodes of the show’s history.
-30-
Media contact: Derek Volner at 860-384-9986; Derek.Volner@ESPN.com and @DerekVolner
-
-
-
-
-
