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Learfield is leveraging an unparalleled amount of fan data to create authentic connections, inform decision making, and drive new revenue every single day through Fanbase. A proprietary fan data platform, Fanbase boasts more than 6 billion fan data points, 66 million first-party fan records and 100 million unique digital fan profiles. Across the country, 150 schools have signed up for Fanbase since its launch in 2021 to take advantage of the actionable insights available in the platform to drive additional revenue.
In celebration of the first 12-team playoff in College Football history, we’ve put Fanbase to work to deliver some fun insights and trends from the College Football Playoff and its 12 participants.
* Each of the 12 teams in the College Football Playoff work with at least one Learfield business line (Learfield MMR, Learfield Amplify, CLC, Paciolan and SIDEARM).
1. Prior to playing in the No.1 most watched quarterfinal (18.5 million) of this year’s CFP, Ohio State and Oregon also faced off in the No. 1 most viewed CFP game of all time, the 2015 National Championship game (33.3 million).
2. Boise State Football’s #HEI2MAN campaign for running back Ashton Jeanty generated more than 30 million impressions, with Heisman-related posts for the Broncos’ No. 2 garnering 2.79x more impressions and 3.37x more engagements versus non-Heisman posts.
3. Georgia, whose 3 CFP Championship Game appearances are less than only 3 other teams in the country, played in 3 of the 5 most-watched regular season games in 2024, more than any other team in the country.
4. Arizona State, the No. 4 seed in the CFP, saw the broadcast exposure value of their football on-field logo increase by 4x this year.
5. Digital marketing campaigns utilizing Fanbase fan personas for targeted marketing, which are now being used by 85 schools across the country, see a $5 higher Return on Ad Spend (ROAS) due to the breadth and depth of data on fans.
6. With 111,030 fans in attendance for a regular season contest against Ohio State in November, No. 6 seed Penn State – who spent all 6 weeks of the CFP Poll at No. 6 or higher – broke their previous attendance record of 110,889, which also came in a game against Ohio State back in 2018.
7. On Dec. 7, Georgia and Texas played for the SEC title in the 7th most viewed game of the season, while each of the other 7 games in the top 8 most viewed games of the season were part of the CFP.
8. Notre Dame, who spent 8 weeks in the Top 8 of the AP Poll this season, raked in its highest viewership of the regular season in a 23-13 win at Texas A&M that raked in just shy of 8 million viewers.
9. Among the 12 CFP schools, Fanbase data shows that No. 9 seed Tennessee has the largest share of fan records who live more than 120 miles from campus at 61%.
10. Indiana’s first ever season with 10 or more wins earned them the No. 10 seed in the CFP and sparked increased engagement from Hoosier fans, leading to a 130.8% increase in Official Athletics Site (OAS) football page views from 2023 to 2024, the largest increase of any CFP participant.
11. SMU, the No. 11 seed in the inaugural 12-team playoff, saw the largest increase in average home attendance of any of the 12 CFP participants with an increase of 44.4% from 2023 to 2024.
12. Among the 12 teams who competed in this year’s CFP, Official Athletics Site (OAS) page views increased by an average of 120% on CFP game days vs. their 12 regular season game days.
Stay tuned for more insights into March Madness and the 2024-25 College Basketball season following the conclusion of the Men’s Final Four in San Antonio and Women’s Final Four in Tampa!