Bill Belichick’s UNC Debut Draws More Than 6M Viewers on ESPN

Bill Belichick’s college football debut delivered big TV ratings for ESPN.

Preliminary data shows at least 6.1 million people watched TCU’s 48–14 blowout victory over North Carolina in prime time on Labor Day. Final viewership figures, which will likely be higher thanks to Nielsen’s new Big Data + Panel system, will be released soon.

The audience of 6.1 million is already 38.6% higher than ESPN’s Labor Day game in 2024, when Boston College–Florida State drew 4.4 million viewers. TCU-UNC was originally scheduled for Saturday, but the ACC in January moved it to Labor Day to give Belichick’s debut a larger spotlight. TCU-UNC will end up as the fifth-most-watched college football game of Week 1, behind four other mega-matchups that all drew more than 10 million viewers.

Belichick’s premiere outing was not able to top the first game Deion Sanders coached at Colorado in 2023, when 7.26 million people watched the Buffaloes upset TCU on Fox in the Big Noon Saturday game window. 

While the poor showing for the Tar Heels casts some doubt on Belichick’s ability to deliver a successful first season, the immediate interest in the legendary NFL coach still boosts a UNC program that didn’t have a big national spotlight last year. In 2024, the Tar Heels never played on the flagship ESPN channel, and only one of their games drew more than 1 million viewers. 

Heading into this season, ESPN was betting big on UNC and Belichick, with several more primetime matchups scheduled for later this fall.

Belichick’s second game at UNC comes Saturday at Charlotte; ESPN+ has the exclusive broadcast, so ratings from that contest likely won’t be released.