Notre Dame Football vs. Wisconsin Among NBC’s Most-Watched Irish Games in Years

Notre Dame’s 41-13 win over Wisconsin at Lambeau Field averaged 8.1 million viewers across NBC and Peacock on Sunday night, according to NBC Sports. Only two Notre Dame games on NBC have drawn more since the 2005 “Bush Push” game against USC.

The two games ahead of it were both far closer. Ohio State’s 2023 visit to Notre Dame Stadium averaged 10.6 million viewers, and the double-overtime game against No. 1 Clemson in 2020 drew 10.4 million. Sunday’s game offered nothing like that.

According to NBC’s release, viewership peaked at 9.7 million between 9:15 and 9:30 p.m. ET, with Notre Dame up 13-10 in the second quarter. Then the Irish outscored Wisconsin 28-3 after halftime. A 41-13 game usually sheds viewers late, and this one still averaged 8.1 million over the full broadcast, from 7:43 to 11:02 p.m. ET. By NBC Sports’ count, it’s the network’s “largest ever for a Notre Dame football game where the opponent was unranked.”

Peacock did its part. The simulstream averaged 683,000 viewers, the most NBC has had for any Notre Dame game. The total audience was up 31% from Notre Dame’s first NBC game of 2025 (Texas A&M, 6.2 million) and 87% from the 2024 NBC opener against Northern Illinois (4.3 million).

The timing helped. It was Sunday night of Labor Day weekend, and the NFL didn’t open its season until Wednesday, Sept. 9. The Irish didn’t have primetime to themselves, though. Ole Miss and Louisville kicked off at the same time on ABC and drew 4.7 million, according to On3. Notre Dame-Wisconsin also finished well ahead of Saturday night’s Clemson-LSU game, which was delayed by storms and averaged 5.8 million, and no college football game drew a bigger audience all weekend, on any network.

What Miami Could Mean for the Next Big Number

Notre Dame’s showdown with Miami could top the opener’s viewership numbers. The Hurricanes visit Notre Dame Stadium on Nov. 7 for a 7:30 p.m. ET kickoff on NBC, with Notre Dame at No. 3 and Miami at No. 7 in this week’s AP poll. There’s a realistic path to both teams sitting in the top five by then. Last year’s meeting, played in the same Labor Day Sunday window on ABC, averaged 10.8 million viewers, and the rematch comes with that Miami win and the playoff committee’s decision to take the Hurricanes over the Irish still fresh.

The catch is that the Nov. 7 slate is one of the most loaded Saturdays on the 2026 schedule, with No. 6 Oregon at No. 1 Ohio State, No. 2 Georgia at No. 9 Ole Miss, and No. 12 Alabama at No. 8 LSU, plus ranked matchups in BYU at Utah and Penn State at Washington. Kickoff times for those games haven’t been announced, but with that many heavyweight matchups, at least one is likely to land opposite Miami-Notre Dame in primetime. Miami-Notre Dame will face much stiffer competition than the Wisconsin game did.