Fiesta and Orange Bowl ratings were the highest, outside of the playoffs, since the BCS era.
Saturday’s Wisconsin-Miami Orange Bowl had a 6.3 rating and 11.73 million viewers on ESPN, per Nielsen fast-nationals — up a tick in ratings and a fraction of a percent in viewership from last year (FSU-Michigan: 6.2, 11.70M). Figures include TV and streaming viewership.
The Badgers’ win was the highest rated non-playoff Orange Bowl since 2014 (Clemson-Ohio State: 6.7) and the most-watched in a decade (Kansas-VT: 12.0M on FOX).
Overall, it ranks third out of the 15 non-playoff New Year’s Six bowls. The Rose Bowl holds the top two spots — USC-Penn State last year (8.6, 15.7M) and Stanford-Iowa in 2015 (7.4, 13.6M).
Earlier in the day, Penn State-Washington had a 5.7 and 10.2 million in the Fiesta Bowl — up a tick and 18% respectively from 2015 (Ohio State-Notre Dame: 5.6, 9.9M). Last year’s Fiesta Bowl was a playoff semifinal.
The Nittany Lions’ win was the top non-playoff Fiesta Bowl since 2014 (UCF-Baylor: 6.6, 11.2M). On the flip side, it posted the third-lowest Fiesta Bowl rating on record (dates back to 1985).
Both games outdrew Friday’s Ohio State-USC Cotton Bowl (5.3, 9.5M). The Cotton Bowl seemed to have the higher profile matchup and the better timeslot.
The New Year’s Six is averaging 10.4 million viewers through three games. Last year, the four non-playoff bowls averaged 13.95 million, but three of the four took place on New Year’s Day. Compared to 2014-15, the last time the non-playoff bowls took place mostly in December, viewership is up 47%.
[Numbers from ESPN]
