NBC’s Wisconsin–Notre Dame Shamrock Series Deliver Draws Record Streaming Audience

The season-opening Shamrock Series matchup between Wisconsin and Notre Dame turned into a ratings win for Comcast‘s NBC Sports, even though the result on the field went against the Badgers.

NBC said the game averaged 8.1 million viewers across NBC and Peacock, making it the third-most-watched Notre Dame broadcast on the network since 2005. Only two Fighting Irish games have drawn bigger audiences in that span: a 2020 matchup against then-No. 1 Clemson (10.4 million) and a 2023 meeting with then-No. 6 Ohio State (10.6 million).

Viewership peaked at 9.7 million during the second quarter, a window in which Wisconsin stayed competitive before Notre Dame pulled away. According to NBC Sports, that peak made it the most-streamed Notre Dame on NBC simulcast ever.

The audience was notable given the opponent’s ranking status: it marked the largest NBC Sports audience ever for a Notre Dame game against an unranked team. Across all networks, the game was the most-watched college football contest of the weekend.

The 2026 Shamrock Series also represented a sharp year-over-year gain, with viewership up 87% compared with Notre Dame’s 2024 season opener.

Context for Comcast and NBC Sports

For Comcast, which houses NBC and the Peacock streaming service, the numbers underscore the continued draw of its college football package and the growing weight of streaming simulcasts in its sports strategy. Comcast shares closed the most recent session at $25.05 and were trading at $25.17, up 0.48%, with a market capitalization of roughly $92.5 billion.

Big-ticket college football windows have become increasingly valuable to media companies as live sports remain one of the few reliably appointment-viewing products on television and streaming platforms alike. A record simulcast audience for a Week 1 game — against an unranked opponent, no less — offers a data point on how the Shamrock Series brand and the Notre Dame property continue to scale on NBC’s platforms.

What to watch

• Whether NBC discloses comparable viewership figures for upcoming Notre Dame home games this season.
• Peacock streaming numbers for future simulcasts, as the platform’s sports strategy evolves.
• Comcast’s next quarterly earnings report, which may address sports viewership trends and Peacock engagement.

Source: original release.