UGA Football Breaks ESPN+ Streaming Record in Tennessee-Martin Game
Real Georgia Fans Don’t Miss the Dawg Post Newsletter - Sign up now!
ATHENS - UGA Football’s power as a brand continues to be on display - or streamed in this case.
Disney said in release this week that No. 1 Georgia’s 48-7 win over Tennessee-Martin on ESPN+ is the most-streamed college football game in ever on that platform. ESPN+ is Disney’s streaming service which caters to sports fans.
“Saturday (Sept. 2) was the most-viewed day of college football ever on ESPN+, and two-time defending CFP National Champion and top-ranked Georgia scored a season-opening win and the most-watched college football game on the platform all-time,” Disney said in an e-mail.
Georgia continues to high-water marks in streaming and viewership. Georgia’s 26-22 win over Missouri was the second most-watched game in SEC Network history - behind only the seven overtime game between LSU and Texas A&M in 2018. Georgia played in the most-watched games of college football the last two years - UGA’s Peach Bowl win over Ohio State; and UGA’s 33-18 win over Alabama in the CFP NCG.
UGA Football has played in four of the six most-watched games in college football in the last six years.
Georgia typically does not play games that exclusive to streaming, but the SEC’s new agreement with Disney stipulates that all league schools must play at least one game that is exclusively streamed per year. Still, ESPN promoted the Bulldogs heavily in the week leading up to the 2023 season opener.
One television insider said college football games that are streamed could get even more exposure on linear (or regular) ESPN channels in the future thanks to restructuring inside the company, but that ESPN+ has always been important to Disney.
“Much of what you saw on air last week was the ESPN+ brand spot which includes various teams who will play on the platform,” the insider said. “You’ll also see drop-ins promoting specific games on ESPN+ across (their) platforms.”
Eko Poly - Perfect for the backyard, beach or lake
Use the code: “DAWG15” to get 15% off & FREE Shipping!
20-Year Warranty | Made in Georgia
It has become clear that streaming is the future for ESPN and other Disney properties. The company is currently in a high-profile dispute with Charter’s Spectrum regarding the future of streaming. Disney released a new statement on Thursday questioning Charter’s so-called ‘“indifference” to the needs of millions of paying customers”, and asked: “Do you care about your subscribers and what they’re telling you they want – or not?”
Charter last released a statement regarding the matter on September 1st saying that Disney and Charter will either “(move) forward together with a collaborative business model, or we’re moving on.”
Georgia will play its first game on linear TV Saturday against Ball State on the joint Disney-SEC owned SEC Network. Georgia will kickoff CBS’s final year of SEC football in week three when Shane Beamer’s South Carolina Gamecocks come to Athens for a 3:30 PM kickoff Between the Hedges.
EXCLUSIVE: Champion Retro P.E. Class Natty Sweatshirt
Check out This Exclusive Sweatshirt NOW!