Sep 1, 2025; Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels head coach Bill Belichick with TCU Horned Frogs head coach Sonny Dykes after the game at Kenan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-Imagn Images
By Reice Shipley on

There were very few positives for Bill Belichick and the North Carolina Tar Heels in their season opener that also served as the unfortunate start of the Bill Belichick era in Chapel Hill. But one positive was that despite the lopsided result, football fans were eager to tune into the game to see how Belichick’s team would look.

Very few games with a final score of 48-14 end up being near the top of the most-watched games of the week. But the Bill Belichick effect was quite real for ESPN. According to a press release from the network, an average of 6.6 million viewers tuned in to see the dominant victory for the TCU Horned Frogs.

It is important to note that as of the beginning of September, Nielsen has a newly expanded methodology for counting viewers called Nielsen’s Big Data + Panel methodology that now includes audiences coming from both linear and streaming platforms. So, naturally, you are going to see audiences inflated with this new methodology compared to past years.

Regardless, the game serves as the most-viewed game on ESPN in Week 1, with the only three games broadcast in Week 1 that brought in higher ratings coming on ABC. Additionally, it is the most-watched Labor Day audience for the network since 2016.

We have seen in the past with Deion Sanders’ first season at Colorado that there is certainly a draw to the unknown when it comes to high-profile coaches. While we don’t know how the rest of Belichick’s debut season at UNC will go, Sanders and the Buffaloes were a huge draw throughout his debut season at the program despite going just 4-8 on the year.

If things end up being as bad as they were for Belichick and the Tar Heels in Week 1 for the remainder of the 2025 season, we could very well see the allure around his coaching tenure go away. But it is certainly difficult to look away from what could very well be a train wreck in Chapel Hill. So perhaps North Carolina will end up being a program that garners attention regardless of their success in 2025.

About Reice Shipley

Reice Shipley is a staff writer for Comeback Media that graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in Sports Media. He previously worked at Barrett Sports Media and is a fan of all things Syracuse sports.

View all posts by Reice Shipley