Alabama football fans enter ESPN record books with spring game ratings

Alabama football fans. Mandatory Credit: Gary Cosby-USA TODAY Sports
Alabama football fans. Mandatory Credit: Gary Cosby-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Alabama football A-Day Spring Game was a huge success for ESPN as fans made it one of the most viewed spring games in years.

Alabama football fans were starved for football this spring, apparently.

Viewership for the Crimson Tide’s latest A-Day Spring Game was up big, landing on ESPN’s list of most-viewed spring games going back a decade.

A total of 547,000 people tuned in on television to get a look at Nick Saban’s latest squad.

That’s in addition to the 47,218 people who turned up at Bryant-Denny Stadium to watch the game live. That was the biggest crowd in U.S. sports since the COVID-19 pandemic began, according to Yahoo! Sports.

Just imagine if ESPN didn’t cut away from the game in the fourth quarter to air Kirk Herbstreit’s show with quarterback draft hopefuls.

Alabama football’s Spring Game was a big deal

There’s good reason for Alabama fans to check out the Spring Game most years, but this season the intrigue was extra high.

The departure of Mac Jones, Najee Harris and DeVonta Smith, along with other Crimson Tide stars, means Alabama will turn to exciting new faces at key positions in 2021.

Quarterback Bryce Young will be the most important of the replacements. He got the chance to get the hype train rolling by taking MVP honors with 333 yards and a touchdown.

Other players also made the most of their opportunities in the spring game. Freshman Agiye Hall turned heads with his performance. Converted tight end Cameron Latu also grabbed some headlines.

If there’s one thing you can be certain of with Alabama, it’s that they don’t rebuild. They reload. The spring game definitely left that impression on the hundreds of thousands who watched, looking for a glimpse of future glory.

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