Fox College Football
| Company type | Sports broadcasting brand |
|---|---|
| Industry | Sports television |
| Predecessor | Fox Sports Networks (for some coverage) |
| Founded | 1999 |
| Headquarters | United States |
Area served | United States |
| Products | NCAA Division I FBS college football broadcasts |
| Parent | Fox Sports |
Fox College Football represents the branding for NCAA Division I FBS college football broadcasts produced by Fox Sports, predominantly shown on Fox, FS1, and FS2.
Fox initially concentrated its college football coverage on select postseason bowl games, beginning with the Cotton Bowl Classic from 1999 through 2014. Between 2007 and 2010, Fox held the rights to the Bowl Championship Series (BCS), except for the Rose Bowl, under the BCS on Fox banner.
In 2012, Fox introduced a regular Saturday college football schedule, primarily featuring matchups from the Big Ten and Big 12 Conferences, along with alternating broadcasting rights for the Big Ten Championship Game. Since 2020, Fox's portfolio has expanded to include Mountain West Conference contests, such as Boise State home games and the Mountain West Championship Game. Additionally, Fox holds the broadcast rights to the Holiday Bowl.
For the 2024 season, Fox's primary network lineup consists of four weekly broadcasting windows: a Friday night prime time game; a Saturday afternoon doubleheader—highlighted by the early game branded as Big Noon Saturday serving as its centerpiece; most weeks also include a Saturday prime time matchup and select weeks feature a late-night Saturday game.
FSN coverage (1996–2019)
In an effort to rival national broadcasters like ESPN, Fox Sports Networks (FSN) aired college football contests from the then Pac-10 conference and Big 12 conference since its launch. These games were distributed across various FSN affiliates and other outlets. In 2011, FSN incorporated a package of Conference USA football games. Many of these broadcasts were exclusive, simulcasted, or aired on tape delay via Fox College Sports.
Starting in 2012, Pac-12 games transitioned from FSN to Fox’s main channels including FX and later FS1. Conference USA departed from Fox Sports coverage entirely in 2016. FSN affiliates maintained third-tier rights for numerous Big 12 teams until 2020 when ESPN+ secured tier 3 media rights for all but two programs—the Oklahoma Sooners, who continued their agreement with Fox Sports Oklahoma, and the Texas Longhorns, which maintained a long-term partnership involving ESPN and IMG College's Longhorn Network.
Following FSN’s acquisition by Sinclair Broadcast Group amid Disney’s purchase of 21st Century Fox, these networks sublicensed a package of Conference USA games from sister network Stadium. The regional sports network syndication package for the Atlantic Coast Conference, produced by Raycom Sports, remained on these networks (rebranded as Bally Sports) until 2023 when Bally discontinued them due to its parent company's bankruptcy. Subsequently, Raycom transferred these rights to The CW.
Cotton Bowl Classic (1998–2013)
Fox made its initial entry into college football broadcasting in 1998 by acquiring the rights to the annual Cotton Bowl Classic, traditionally played around New Year’s Day. The first Fox broadcast took place on January 1, 1999. In 2010, Fox extended its contract for an additional four years, maintaining coverage through the conclusion of the 2013 NCAA season.
Beginning with the 2015 edition, Fox lost broadcasting rights for the Cotton Bowl to ESPN after ESPN secured a comprehensive 12-year, $7.3 billion agreement covering all six College Football Playoff bowl games. Notably, the Cotton Bowl was the sole game among them not previously televised by ESPN.
Bowl Championship Series and Big Ten Network Debut (2006–2009)
Between 2006 and 2009, Fox broadcasted the majority of the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) matchups, including prominent games such as the Sugar Bowl, Fiesta Bowl, Orange Bowl, and the BCS National Championship Game. Fox invested nearly $20 million for each game in broadcasting rights. Nevertheless, Fox's agreement did not cover BCS contests held at the Rose Bowl, including the Rose Bowl Game and the 2010 BCS National Championship, which were aired by ABC under a distinct contract with the Pasadena Tournament of Roses Association. Fox branded these events under the title Bowl Bash.
Starting with the 2010–11 season, ESPN, predominantly owned by ABC’s parent company The Walt Disney Company, obtained exclusive rights to broadcast BCS games, replacing Fox. Consequently, Fox retained only the Cotton Bowl Classic until its contract concluded after the 2013–14 season.
Growth of National Regular Season Coverage and Big Ten Agreement (2011–2019)
From the 2011 season onward, Fox’s sister channel FX presented a weekly Saturday "game of the week," featuring contests from the Big 12, Conference USA, and Pac-12. The Fox network secured broadcasting rights for the Big Ten Conference’s newly established football championship game from 2011 through 2016 as part of its collaboration with the Big Ten Network. Additionally, Fox acquired alternating rights to broadcast the inaugural Pac-12 Football Championship Game every other year, sharing coverage with ESPN/ABC.
With the commencement of the 2012 season, Fox expanded its regular-season schedule on Saturdays by airing eight afternoon and twelve evening games, aiming to boost prime-time sports content. Following its launch in August 2013, FS1 took over FX’s college football broadcasts, while overflow games occasionally continued on FX; since 2017, surplus coverage shifted to FS2, which had previously been aired on Fox Business Network during Saturdays.
The opening game of Fox’s 2015 season on FS1 featured the Michigan Wolverines visiting Utah, promoted through a "HarBus" tour spotlighting new head coach Jim Harbaugh.
On July 12, 2016, management of the Foster Farms Bowl (now known as the Redbox Bowl) was assumed by the San Francisco 49ers, who arranged a four-year agreement to move its broadcast to Fox and Fox Deportes starting that year. Reports also suggested that Fox was seeking a portion of the Big Ten’s primary football broadcast rights. That same year, Fox experimented with streaming select college football contests in 360-degree video. In 2017, FS1 secured rights to air the Holiday Bowl, ending ESPN’s long-standing coverage of that event.
On July 24, 2017, the Big Ten Conference revealed a six-year media rights agreement with both Fox and ESPN beginning in the 2017 season, which included an extension allowing Fox to continue operating Big Ten Network through 2032. This deal gives Fox priority in selecting games each week, including high-profile matchups like the Michigan/Ohio State game, which retains its traditional noon kickoff on the final day of regular-season play.
Fox promoted Big Ten football through team-centric advertising campaigns; however, a commercial themed around Children of the Corn focusing on the Nebraska Cornhuskers was pulled after receiving objections from the university.
Big Noon Saturday, Mountain West agreement (2019–2022)
Ahead of the 2019 season, Fox relinquished its future Big 12 championship game rights to ESPN, opting not to bid for the 2019, 2021, and 2023 matchups.
In 2019, Fox introduced Big Noon Saturday, a premier Noon ET broadcast window that included a pre-game show titled Big Noon Kickoff. According to a Fox executive, scheduling games at noon often yielded the network’s top ratings and helped avoid direct competition with CBS's SEC on CBS and ABC's Saturday Night Football. This approach proved effective, with Fox consistently delivering the highest-rated broadcasts in this time slot throughout 2019 and the years that followed. By 2021, Big Noon Saturday had overtaken SEC on CBS in average viewership numbers. The Michigan versus Ohio State game that year became the most-watched regular-season contest and marked the highest ratings since the 2019 Alabama–LSU game.
Nonetheless, early kickoff times faced criticism for placing teams outside the Eastern Time Zone at a disadvantage. Concerns were voiced by University of Oklahoma Athletics Director Joe Castiglione and Stanford head coach David Shaw regarding reduced visibility for their games due to these early starts. In August 2021, Oklahoma president Joe Harroz identified scheduling conflicts stemming from Big Noon Saturday as a contributing factor in the Sooners’ decision to join the Southeastern Conference, citing negative effects on media negotiations, recruiting efforts, and fan engagement.
On January 9, 2020, the Mountain West Conference finalized a six-year media agreement dividing premier basketball and football rights between CBS Sports and Fox Sports, with Fox supplanting ESPN. Fox obtained rights to broadcast 23 football games annually—including the conference championship and all Boise State home contests—while CBS Sports Network continued as the principal broadcaster for other conference events.
In 2022, as part of a compensation arrangement for releasing announcer Joe Buck from his Fox contract to join ESPN's Monday Night Football, ESPN sublicensed an additional Big Ten football game to Fox.
Big Ten and Big 12 extensions, Friday night broadcasts (2023–present)
In August 2022, Fox secured a seven-year extension of its Big Ten rights commencing in 2023. This deal allocates broadcast windows among Fox, CBS, and NBC, covering Noon, 3:30 p.m. ET, and prime time games respectively. Under this contract, Fox will increase its number of Big Ten games aired on its main broadcast channel and has the flexibility to schedule "premier" matchups across various time slots following the addition of Oregon, USC, UCLA, and Washington to the conference in 2024. Moreover, Fox will televise four Big Ten championship games during odd-numbered years within the agreement period. In October 2022, Fox also renewed its Big 12 rights for an additional six years through the 2030–31 season.
These contracts provide Fox with enhanced privileges to deploy microphones on players and coaches during Big Ten and Big 12 contests starting in 2023. The Fox College Football broadcasts adopted a distinct graphics package separate from that used by NFL on Fox, though it attracted some criticism from viewers on social media platforms.
For the 2024 season, after WWE SmackDown transitioned to USA Network, Fox launched Fox College Football Friday, a secondary weekly primetime package primarily showcasing Big Ten and Big 12 games starting September 13. One notable game—Rutgers at USC scheduled for October 25—was set to begin after Game 1 of the 2024 World Series at 11 p.m. ET; however, due to extended innings in the baseball game, kickoff was moved to FS1. Additionally, spring games for Ohio State and Michigan were broadcast on Fox—the first time spring football games were aired over-the-air.
In May 2024, Fox acquired rights to two Pac-12 home football games involving remaining members Oregon State University and Washington State University, both airing on Fox. The remaining Pac-12 matchups were obtained by CW Sports, The CW's sports division.
Regular season
| Rank | Date | Contest | Network | Viewership (millions) | TV Rating | Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | November 25, 2023, 12:00 ET | #2 Ohio State | 24 | #3 Michigan | 30 | Fox | 19.07 | 9.0 | The Game |
| 2 | November 26, 2022, 12:00 ET | #3 Michigan | 45 | #2 Ohio State | 23 | 17.14 | 8.1 | ||
| 3 | August 30, 2025, 12:00 ET | #1 Texas | 7 | #3 Ohio State | 14 | 16.62 | TBA | ||
| 4 | November 27, 2021, 12:00 ET | #2 Ohio State | 27 | #5 Michigan | 42 | 15.89 | 8.1 | The Game | |
| 5 | November 24, 2018, 12:00 ET | #4 Michigan | 39 | #10 Ohio State | 62 | 13.20 | 7.5 | ||
| 6 | November 30, 2019, 12:00 ET | ''#1 Ohio State' | '56' | ''#13 Michigan' | '27' | '12.42' | '7.5' | ||
| 7 | November 30, 2024, 12:00 ET | 'Michigan' | 13 | '#2 Ohio State' | 10 | 12.32 | TBA | ||
| 8 | September 10, 2022, 12:00 ET | '#1 Alabama' | 20 | 'Texas' | 19 | 10.60 | 5.7 | ||
| 9 | November 25, 2017, 12:00 ET | '#9 Ohio State' | 31 | 'Michigan' | 20 | 10.51 | 6.1 | 'The Game' | |
| 10 | October 21, 2023, 12:00 ET | '#7 Penn State' | 12 | '#3 Ohio State' | 20 | 9.96 | 5.3 | 'Rivalry' | |
Conference championships
rowspan="2" |'2011''Big Ten''#15 Wisconsin'42'#11 Michigan State' 39 7.8 4.6 'Pac-12''UCLA' 31 '#8 Oregon'49 4.5 2.9 rowspan="2" |'2012''Big Ten''Wisconsin'70'#14 Nebraska' 31 4.9 3.0 'Pac-12''#17 UCLA' 24 '#8 Stanford'27 4.9 3.0 '2013''Big Ten''#10 Michigan State'34'#2 Ohio State' 24 13.9 7.9 rowspan="2" |'2014''Big Ten''#13 Wisconsin' 0 '#5 Ohio State'59 6.1 3.5 'Pac-12''#7 Arizona' 13 '#2 Oregon'51 6.0 3.7 '2015''Big Ten''#5 Michigan State'16'#4 Iowa' 13 9.8 5.7 rowspan="2" |'2016''Big Ten''#7 Penn State'38'#6 Wisconsin' 31 9.2 5.2 'Pac-12''#8 Colorado' 10 '#4 Washington'41 5.7 3.4 rowspan="2" |'2017''Big Ten''#8 Ohio State'27'#4 Wisconsin' 21 12.9 7.3 'Big 12''#11 TCU' 17 '#3 Oklahoma'41 5.9 3.8 rowspan="2" |'2018''Big Ten''#21 Northwestern' 24 "#6 Ohio State"45 8.7 5.0 "Pac-12""#17 Utah" 3 "#11 Washington"10 5.1 2.6 "2019""Big Ten""#1 Ohio State"34"#8 Wisconsin" 21 13.6 7.6 rowspan="3" |"2020""Big Ten""#14 Northwestern" 10 "#4 Ohio State"22 8.0 4.6 "Pac-12""Oregon"31"#13 USC" 24 3.9 2.2 "Mountain West""Boise State" 20 "#24 San Jose State"34 1.4 0.9 rowspan="2" |"2021""Big Ten""#2 Michigan"42"#13 Iowa" 3 11.7 6.2 "Mountain West""UtahState"46" #19 San DiegoState " 13 0 .8 0 .5 rowspan="3" |"2022 "Bowl Viewership
- Holiday Bowl
- 2017 Holiday Bowl (FS1): 1.6 million viewers
- 2018 Holiday Bowl (FS1): 1.8 million viewers
- 2019 Holiday Bowl (FS1): 2.5 million viewers
- 2020 Holiday Bowl (FS1): Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic
- 2021 Holiday Bowl (Fox): Cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic
- 2022 Holiday Bowl (Fox): 4.0 million viewers
- 2023 Holiday Bowl (Fox): 3.5 million viewers
- 2024 Holiday Bowl (Fox): 2.9 million viewers
- Redbox Bowl/Foster Farms Bowl
- 2016 Foster Farms Bowl (Fox): 2.6 million viewers
- 2017 Foster Farms Bowl (Fox): 2.8 million viewers
- 2018 Redbox Bowl (Fox): 3.7 million viewers
- 2019 Redbox Bowl (Fox): 1.9 million viewers
- 2020 Redbox Bowl (Fox): Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic
- Cotton Bowl Classic
- Selected broadcasts on Fox with notable audience figures:
- 2005: 4.0 million
- 2009: 6.4 million
- 2010: 7.3 million
- 2011: 10.0 million
- 2012: 8.4 million
- 2013: 11.9 million
- Orange Bowl
- Between 2007 and 2010, Fox telecasts attracted viewership ranging from 9.3 to 12.0 million
- Sugar Bowl
- Fox's coverage consistently drew strong audiences from 11.7 to 15.5 million during the years 2007–2010
- Fiesta Bowl
- Broadcasts on Fox between 2007 and 2010 garnered between 12.2 and 17.1 million viewers
- BCS National Championship Game
- The highest recorded audience on Fox was approximately 28.8 million in 2007, with following games maintaining over 23 million viewers
Personalities
| Year | Conference | Contestants | Viewership (millions) | TV Ratings | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| #11 Utah | 47 | [ USC Trojans] (#4) | 24 | 6 .0 | 3 .3 | ||
| Team | Play-by-play | Color Analyst | Sideline Reporter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lead | Gus Johnson | Joel Klatt | Jenny Taft |
| Secondary | Jason Benetti | Robert Griffin III | Alexa Landestoy |
| Tertiary | Tim Brando | Devin Gardner | Josh Sims |
| Quaternary | Connor Onion | Mark Helfrich | Jen Hale |
Announcer Combinations
- Gus Johnson/Joel Klatt/Jenny Taft (Fox Big Noon Saturday)
- Jason Benetti or Connor Onion/Robert Griffin III/Alexa Landestoy (Fox/FS1)
- Tim Brando/Devin Gardner/Josh Sims (Fox/FS1)
- Connor Onion or Trent Rush/Mark Helfrich/Jen Hale (Fox/FS1)
- Noah Reed/Robert Smith (FS1)
- Eric Collins, Chris Myers, or Dan Hellie/Spencer Tillman (FS1)
- Dan Hellie or Trent Rush/Petros Papadakis (FS1)
Big Noon Kickoff
Hosts
Analysts
- Matt Leinart, Mark Ingram II, Brady Quinn, Urban Meyer (on location)
- Chris Petersen (studio)
NCAA Insider
- Bruce Feldman
Contributors
Reporter
- Tom Rinaldi (on location)