College World Series TV Ratings Hit Home Run Despite Yawners At End; Final Jell-O Shot Tally Is In

Based on game competitiveness and drama, the 2023 College World Series proved to be one of the best in a history that began in 1947.

Of the 16 games, one run decided eight of them. And two 11-inning games kept fans anxious in their seats. The eight one-run games tied the CWS record. The championship series closed with two huge blowouts, but viewers still stuck for the most part.

Two of the one-run games and both extra-inning affairs featured eventual national champion LSU. The No. 5 seed Tigers lost 3-2 to No. 1 Wake Forest on June 19. They beat No. 2 seed Florida, 4-3, in 11 innings on Saturday in the opener of the best-of-three championship series.

College World Series Featured Drama And Blowouts

LSU beat Wake Forest, 2-0, last Thursday to reach the final on a walk-off, two-run home run in the bottom of the 11th by Tommy "Tanks" White.

Apparently, the momentum of those games led to a College World Series record average of 3.5 million viewers for the national championship game on ESPN Monday night, according to ESPN. And that game was basically over early as LSU won, 18-4.

College World Series TV Ratings Beat NBA Playoffs

The number of viewers peaked earlier in the game when it was close at an average of 4.2 million viewers. That number edged the average viewership of the NBA's opening weekend of playoffs, which had an average viewership of 4.15 million.

The 3.5 million average viewers for the LSU-Florida final Monday nearly equaled the 3.7 million average viewers of the first two rounds of the NBA Playoffs in 2022, according to the Sports Business Journal.

Florida led 2-0 in the first before LSU took a 6-2 lead in the second, and it was over. The game before that was also a huge blowout as Florida won, 24-4, on Sunday night.

That LSU-Florida title game Monday was the top television sports event of the day on broadcast or cable. The game pinned WWE pro wrestling by a 1.5 million viewer average. WWE finished second at a 2.0 million average viewership, according to ShowBuzzDaily.

LSU-Florida Opener Most Watched In CWS History

The 4-3 win by LSU over the Gators on Saturday night was the most watched CWS opener in history at an average of 2.7 million viewers, ESPN said. That was up 68% from last year's Ole Miss-Oklahoma opener.

Even Florida's 24-4 blowout of LSU on Sunday afternoon drew 2.2 million viewers, which was up 38 percent from last year's game two.

College Baseball Drew More Viewers Than MLB

All three LSU-Florida games outdrew the most watched game this season on ESPN's Major League Baseball Sunday Night Baseball, according to ShowBuzzDaily. That was the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees on June 18 that drew an average of 1.9 million viewers.

MLB Sunday Night Baseball's average for the season is 1.5 million viewers. The three CWS final games averaged 2.8 million viewers - 1.3 million more than MLB on Sunday Night.

Speaking of numbers, the final tally of the Rocco's Pizza & Cantina Jell-O Shot Challenge shook in on Wednesday.

LSU finished with 68,888 shots, slamming No. 2 Wake Forest, which finished with 7,622.

Chances are that record will not last as long as LSU's all-time home run mark for a season set in 1997 at 188.

The Jell-O Shot mark may only last until next year ... if LSU makes a return trip in 2024.

The Final Countdown ... the hatch: