Nebraska Football vs. Illinois Sets Friday Night Viewership Record for FOX Sports

Despite the overtime loss Friday night, Nebraska football continues to be must-watch television.

FOX Sports said Monday that the season’s second iteration of “FOX College Football Friday” was the most-watched telecast of the day on any network. The top-25 matchup of unbeaten teams topped out at over 4.2 million viewers during the Friday night contest at Memorial Stadium.

The viewership total made it the most-watched television broadcast for FOX Sports for a Friday night since the 2023 World Series in October of last year. The Texas Rangers downed the Arizona Diamondbacks 6-5 in the opening contest of the World Series.

Viewers tuned into a classic Big Ten Conference battle Friday night, as then-ranked No. 24 Illinois took down No. 22 Nebraska 31-24 in overtime. The game featured several lead changes, an extra period play, and several key moments including controversial review reversals. Although the Huskers were listed as touchdown favorites entering the contest, the Illini’s ground-and-pound running game and late defense secured the road victory.

It is the second time Nebraska football has broken a viewership record, having blasted the NBC “Big Ten Saturday Night” record with 6.3 million viewers for the Huskers’ 28-10 victory over Colorado in Week Two. The Huskers have been featured on primary networks throughout their first four games including FS1, NBC, the Big Ten Network, and FOX.

During the overtime period of the contest, between 10:15 and 10:30 p.m. CDT, the viewership peaked at around 5.06 million viewers. Nebraska’s contest took down the previous week’s top 25 Big 12 matchup against Arizona and Kansas State, which peaked at 2.8 million viewers.

Saturday, Nebraska will hit the road for the first time in 2024 to battle Purdue. It will be the first time the Huskers are broadcast only on a streaming platform since the Maryland matchup in 2023, as NU and the Boilermakers will face off on Peacock. The Big Red’s homecoming contest with Rutgers on Oct. 5 was recently announced as a 3 p.m. CDT kickoff to be broadcast on FS1.

The Huskers still await television and kickoff assignments for five of their last six games. The regular-season finale at Iowa’s Kinnick Stadium will be broadcast on NBC and streamed on Peacock.

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