College football is set up for another big weekend of games, which should continue to draw strong TV ratings following a major uptick in viewership early this season.

Through Week 2, total college football viewership across all networks is up 21% compared to last season, according to data Nielsen’s research team provided to Front Office Sports. That’s when using Nielsen’s Big Data + Panel measurement system for both this season’s and last season’s broadcasts.

Earlier this week, Fox Sports president of insights and analytics Mike Mulvihill predicted on X that “it’s pretty likely this will be a third straight year of record-breaking total viewing of CFB.” Mulvihill initially revealed total college football viewing is up 25% through two weeks; Nielsen told FOS those figures are when comparing Big Data + Panel from this season to panel-only data from last season. 

Fox has the most-watched game of the season to date, a Week 1 record of 16.62 million viewers for Texas–Ohio State.

Saturday Slate

Several top-25 matchups could bring in big TV audiences this weekend.

NBC will broadcast No. 16 Texas A&M at No. 8 Notre Dame in prime time; last season, that same matchup in College Station drew 7.92 million viewers on ABC.

In the afternoon, ABC gets No. 6 Georgia at No. 15 Tennessee, which could draw the network’s biggest audience of the season, following three games topping 10 million viewers during a record Week 1 for Disney-owned platforms. 

Meanwhile, The CW has a great opportunity to draw its most-watched college football game on record since first airing the sport in 2023. Thanks to its ACC media-rights deal, The CW will broadcast No. 18 South Florida at No. 5 Miami on Saturday afternoon. The 2–0 Bulls were unranked before upsetting No. 13 Florida, despite being paid $500,000 to play the Gators in The Swamp.

The WNBA playoffs start Sunday with considerable format changes. The Finals will be a seven-game series for the first time in history, while the first round changed from a 2-1 to a 1-1-1 format, which will allow both teams to play at least one home game.

However, the number of playoff teams has stayed the same. Eight teams qualified for the playoffs despite the addition of the Golden State Valkyries this season, which brought the league’s total to 13. Since 2016, the league has also stuck to allowing the top eight teams based on record to qualify for the postseason rather than the top four teams per conference.

The league will be adding five more expansion teams, bringing the total to 18 by 2030. The WNBA will add two teams next season (Toronto Tempo and Portland Fire), one in 2028 (Cleveland), 2029 (Philadelphia), and 2030 (Detroit). 

When asked whether the league had any intentions to change its format and potentially revert back to a conference-based system, WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert said it’s unlikely any changes will be made until all five teams have joined.

“I think it’s certainly something that will be on the docket when we get to 18 teams in 2030. I don’t think there will be changes before then,” Engelbert said on the In Case You Missed It podcast published Wednesday. “For now, I think we’re providing a platform and a path for the best two teams to end up in the WNBA Finals.”

From 2009 to 2024, the current playoff format allowed two-thirds of the WNBA to reach the postseason. If there are no changes by 2029, when there are 17 teams, less than half the league will make the playoffs for just the second time in league history. The only other time was in 1998, the league’s second season, when 4 of 10 teams qualified.

The WNBA CBA states that the league is allowed to make changes to its playoff format “after consultation with the players association.” These changes include the number of teams that qualify for the postseason.

The CBA also states that any playoff format change that results in an increase in the maximum number of playoff games means that players will get a 10% increase in bonuses associated with making the playoffs. 

The bonuses written in the current CBA are as follows (all per player):

• WNBA champion: $11,356
• Runner-up: $5,678 
• Eliminated in third round: $2,839
• Eliminated in second round: $1,803
• Eliminated in first round: $1,136

A 10% increase on those figures ranges between just $113 and $1,135 per player.

However, the current WNBA CBA runs only until the end of this season. Front Office Sports reported it’s increasingly unlikely that the league and the Women’s National Basketball Players Association will come to an agreement on a new CBA before the Oct. 31 deadline.

UEFA’s executive committee has delayed issuing a definitive ruling on proposals for separate LaLiga and Serie A matches to be played outside of their home countries this season.

This summer, the Spanish soccer federation (RFEF) approved a request from Barcelona and Villarreal to play a match scheduled for the weekend of Dec. 20 at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, and the Italian soccer federation (FIGC) gave its blessing for an AC Milan–Como match in February to be moved to Perth.

However, both leagues need further approval from UEFA, which has been slow to say yes in the wake of fan unrest about moving matches overseas. FIFA must also sign off on the moves, but its long-standing ban on teams playing domestic league games abroad has been under pressure in several courts. LaLiga’s efforts to host a match in Miami date back to 2018. 

“The Executive Committee discussed the requests from the RFEF and FIGC to approve the playing of one domestic league match each outside the home country, in particular outside the UEFA territory,” the governing body said in a statement Thursday following a meeting in Tirana, Albania. “The committee acknowledged it as an important and growing issue but expressed the desire to ensure that it has the views of all stakeholders before coming to a final decision. 

“There are many issues to resolve and as the European governing body, UEFA has a responsibility to take all such factors into account. As a result, no decision was taken today but UEFA will undertake a round of consultation with all stakeholders in European football—including fans.”

The next meeting of the UEFA executive committee is scheduled for Dec. 3, just two and a half weeks before the proposed Barcelona-Villarreal match in Miami.