The 2025 FCS playoffs were highly successful for the subdivision. And it ended with a bang in Nashville.
The city hosted the FCS championship game for the first time after a 15-year stint in Frisco, Texas. A larger stadium and a destination town drew 24,105 fans to watch Montana State defeat Illinois State 35-34 in an overtime thriller. It was the championship’s highest attendance since 1996, and judging from the crowd shots, one could argue there was likely more than 24,105 if the stadium does indeed hold around 35,000.
It was a festive weekend for the Montana State, Illinois State, and FCS fans in attendance.
And it was a gem of an event for the city of Nashville.
The FCS championship weekend brought in an estimated $31.3 million in spending, Scott Ramsey, President of the Nashville Sports Council, told HERO Sports. The average stay was 2.6 nights.
That $31.3M figure is in line with the Music City Bowl and the SEC Basketball Tournament, Ramsey said. The 2025 Music City Bowl featured Illinois and Tennessee.
“One of the things during the bid process we said was, ‘Hey, we want to build on the success that Frisco had built, but we also want to put our national personality out there,’” Ramsey said. “We’ve got a downtown that’s compact, a real campus kind of feel. We have a 30,000-plus-seat football stadium that just got upgraded with a lot of suites and premium seating that’s only two miles from the downtown corridor. We have an Opryland Hotel that we think will be a unique experience for the players. So, we really wanted to infuse the national piece of it and hopefully give that transition from Frisco a whole new set of energy and atmosphere. And we’re encouraged by the feedback.”
Nashville hosts the title game again this season on Jan. 11 as part of its 2-year contract. Ramsey said the city will put in another competitive bid to continue hosting the game.
2025 FCS Playoffs Highlights
-TV viewership on ESPN’s national networks grew 8% compared to the 2024 playoffs, while ESPN+ exclusive games grew 26%.
-Overall, it was the most-watched FCS playoffs since 2009.
-Three FCS playoff games drew higher TV viewership than 15 bowl games.
-The quarterfinal games that were broadcast on ABC and ESPN averaged 1.4 million viewers, which was up 34% year-over-year and the highest for the quarterfinal round since 2011. The South Dakota at Montana game on ABC drew 1.9 million viewers, making it the most-watched FCS quarterfinal game since 2016. For comparison, the 2024 ABC quarterfinal game between Mercer at NDSU drew 1.4 million viewers. The Friday night SFA at Montana State game on ESPN averaged 864,000 viewers, up 17% from last season’s Friday quarterfinal game of Idaho at Montana State. And the Saturday late morning Villanova at Tarleton State game on ESPN averaged 1.5M viewers, up 61% from last season’s Saturday ESPN game of UIW at SDSU.
-The two FCS semifinal games averaged 1.6 million viewers, the most-watched semifinals since 2009. The Montana at Montana State semifinal game on ABC did most of the lifting on that. It was the most-watched FCS playoff game on record, averaging 2.8 million viewers. ESPN2’s Illinois State at Villanova game averaged about 400,000 viewers.
-The championship game on ESPN drew an average of 2.3 million viewers, peaking at 3 million, making it the third most-watched FCS title game ever.
-FCS championship attendance was 24,105, the highest since 1996.
-The FCS championship weekend in Nashville brought in an estimated $31.3 million in spending.
