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Prime-time viewing: Colorado-Colorado State draws a late-night record 9.3 million viewers for ESPN

Colorado football coach Deion Sanders wraps a football player in a hug on the sideline. Deion has a huge smile on his face.
David Zalubowski
/
Associated Press
Colorado head coach Deion Sanders, right, hugs his son, safety Shilo Sanders, after he returned an interception for a touchdown in the first half of an NCAA college football game against Colorado State Saturday, Sept. 16, 2023, in Boulder.

Colorado's double-overtime victory against Colorado State, which ended in the early hours of Sunday in most of the country, drew 9.3 million viewers to make it the most-watched late-night college football game ever on ESPN, the network said.

Coach Deion Sanders' Colorado team did not kick off until after 10 p.m. Eastern and did not secure the victory until about 2:30 a.m.

Still, it was ESPN's fifth most-watched regular-season game ever on the network for any time slot. That broadcast window for ESPN college football averaged about 1.7 million viewers last year, the network said.

No. 19 Colorado's first two games under Sanders were carried by Fox, with both slotted into the network's Big Noon game. The Buffaloes' victories over TCU and Nebraska averaged about 8 million viewers for Fox.

Colorado faces No. 10 Oregon on Saturday in a game scheduled for 1:30 p.m. on ABC.