The Saban Effect: College GameDay viewership skyrockets in week one

The week one broadcast from College Station, Texas as the crew got ready for Texas A&M and Notre Dame saw absolutely massive ratings.

In what was the official first show for Nick Saban after making his GameDay debut in Dublin the week prior for ‘Week 0’, the broadcast averaged a staggering 2.5 million viewers, according to Front Office Sports on X.

Those numbers were good for the most watched regular season version of the show since 2016 and is up a huge 47 percent from last season.

Saban was a hit across social media during the show, with viewers loving his in-depth analysis and trademark dry sense of humor.

"If you don't pay the right guys, you'll be s— out of luck." —Nick Saban 🤣 pic.twitter.com/eFJqeXwcSi

— College GameDay (@CollegeGameDay) August 31, 2024

While the viewers are obviously enjoying Saban, the legendary former Alabama head coach seems to be enjoying himself tremendously as well, remarking as the broadcast was ending how he has never been to anything like this and how much fun he was having:

College GameDay in College Station finishes up with…

* A shirtless Pat McAfee
* Guest picker Johnny Manziel
* Lee Corso dressed — and dancing — as a leprechaun
* Nick Saban (hugged by shirtless McAfee): "I've never been to anything like this. This is so much fun." 🏈📺🎙️ pic.twitter.com/DjKmYO4XwP

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) August 31, 2024

As the season rolls on, the numbers will likely continue to stay big and possibly even grow as the entire GameDay crew finds its chemistry and the quality of the show continues to improve.