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| ESPN broadcast |
More than a quarter-million people tuned in on Sunday night, Jan. 4, 2026, to watch UW-River Falls defeat North Central 24-14 in Stagg Bowl LII. It was the largest number in the past several seasons.
The game got a prime-time slot on Sunday night for the second year in a row, which places it directly opposite the final regular season Sunday Night Football game on NBC, which is not just the most-watched event in its time slot, but is the most-watched prime time television event in any given week all year.
In all, viewership on ESPN for the Stagg Bowl was 279,000. That's 25.6% more than the previous year's game between North Central and Mount Union, which aired on the same night and in the same time slot, and was viewed by 222,000 people.
The previous two Stagg Bowls were aired on ESPNU, on a Friday night in December, and were viewed by 222,000 people (Cortland vs. North Central, 2023) and 206,000 people (North Central vs. Mount Union, 2022).