BYU and Utah played each other on November 9th after both teams had bye weeks. There was a lot of prime college football inventory that weekend for t …
Last year, BYU and Utah played each other on November 9th after both teams had bye weeks. There was a lot of prime college football inventory that weekend for the networks to choose from, so the rivalry game was pushed to a less desirable 8:15 PM Mountain Time kickoff and was broadcast on ESPN.
Given the late time slot, the rivalry game pulled good ratings. The average viewers throughout the game was 2.07 million, one of the best numbers for the late-night ESPN window in 2024. 2.07 million was the second highest number for a game in the late-night ESPN window, behind only Cincinnati-Colorado.
On the same weekend that BYU beat Utah in 2024, ABC broadcast SEC showdowns Texas at Florida, Ole Miss at Georgia, and Florida at Texas. Michigan also played at Indiana that weekend, and Florida State played Notre Dame.
In 2025, at least as of this writing, there will be similar broadcast competition for the BYU-Utah rivalry game. On that same weekend, SMU and Clemson will play each other in a 2024 ACC Championship rematch.
Ole Miss will play at Georgia on that same weekend, Tennessee will play at Alabama, and Ohio State will play at Wisconsin. Other Big 12 matchups that weekend include Texas Tech at Arizona State and Baylor at TCU. USC will play also Notre Dame, although that game will be broadcast on NBC and won’t compete for a time slot.
In 2025, the BYU-Utah rivalry will have a chance to get a better time slot. If both teams have good records going into that game, BYU-Utah could potentially get the afternoon FOX window or an earlier ESPN timeslot. It will likely depend on the records of both teams going into the game. Last year, Utah’s record negatively impacted the television window.
Source: Utah News