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The early weeks of the college football season continue to set viewership records.
The latest: Saturday’s Alabama-Texas thriller, in which the No. 1 Crimson Tide kicked a game-winning field goal with 10 seconds left.
It garnered more viewers on Fox’s streaming platform than any college or NFL game in the network’s history, Fox Sports announced.
The milestone is particularly significant as multiple Power 5 conferences are taking bets on the role of streaming in future media deals.
Executives have noted that streaming platforms are part of the future of content distribution, particularly when trying to reach younger audiences.
The Big Ten, for example, is putting a significant package of marquee content on Peacock in its future media deal, billed as the largest of any college sports conference. Part of the SEC’s future package with ESPN will include football games on ESPN+.
But it’s still unclear how lucrative streaming will be for conferences and networks long-term. Will enough fans pay for streaming platforms, or will the fad fade as consumers tire of purchasing multiple subscriptions?
Perhaps the Texas and Alabama game suggests that if the games are enticing enough, fans will watch in whatever way is available.
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