Over a week removed from the BCS National Championship Game, here is a look at how college football bowls performed during the 2010-11 season.
35 college football bowl games averaged approximately 6.1 million viewers across ESPN, ABC, FOX and CBS during the 2010-11 season, down from 6.6 million for 34 bowls last year.
Of those 33 bowls that can be compared to last season, 22 had declines in ratings and viewership. That includes all five games of the Bowl Championship Series, which aired on cable network ESPN for the first time.
Even in a down year, five bowls had increases of at least 50% in ratings and viewership — the Insight Bowl (up 450% in ratings and 429% in viewership), Music City Bowl (up 147% and 155%), Outback Bowl (up 103% and 119%), New Orleans Bowl (up 86% and 111%), and Las Vegas Bowl (up 50% and 51%).
Overall, ten bowls had double-digit increases in ratings and viewership.
On the flip side, 17 bowls had double-digit declines in ratings, and 16 had double-digit declines in viewership. Among those seventeen are the Capital One Bowl, Gator Bowl, Fiesta Bowl and BCS National Championship Game, all of which moved from broadcast TV to ESPN.
The seven bowls that made the shift from broadcast to cable (the aforementioned four, in addition to the Rose, Sugar and Orange Bowls) had declines. The sole bowl to move from cable to broadcast, the Outback Bowl, had a previously mentioned increase of over 100%.
One of the newest bowls, the Pinstripe Bowl, ranked 20th in viewership out of the 35 bowls. Ratings and viewership for the TicketCity Bowl on ESPNU were not available.
Ratings/Viewershp For 2010-11 College Football Bowls
| Date | Result | Net | Rating | +/- | Viewers (000) | +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sat., 12/18/10 | New Mexico: BYU 52, UTEP 24 | ESPN |
1.8
|
-25%
|
2,789
|
-22%
|
| Humanitarian: NIU 40, FRESNO 17 | ESPN |
1.8
|
-14%
|
2,896
|
-4%
|
|
| New Orleans: TROY 48, OHIO 21 | ESPN |
1.3
|
86%
|
2,096
|
111%
|
|
| Tue., 12/21/10 | Beef O’Brady’s: LOU 31, USM 28 | ESPN |
2.0
|
25%
|
2,997
|
21%
|
| Wed., 12/22/10 | Las Vegas: #10 BOISE 26, #19 UT 3 | ESPN |
3.3
|
50%
|
5,360
|
51%
|
| Thu., 12/23/10 | Poinsettia: SDSU 35, NAVY 14 | ESPN |
2.3
|
-4%
|
3,568
|
-4%
|
| Fri., 12/24/10 | Hawaii: TUL 62, HI 35 | ESPN |
2.1
|
24%
|
3,707
|
26%
|
| Sun., 12/26/10 | Little Caesars: FIU 34, TOL 32 | ESPN |
1.4
|
-46%
|
2,174
|
-43%
|
| Mon., 12/27/10 | Independence: AF 14, GT 7 | ESPN |
1.4
|
-30%
|
2,234
|
-32%
|
| Tue., 12/28/10 | Champs Sports: NCSU 23, WVU 7 | ESPN |
2.1
|
-46%
|
3,256
|
-48%
|
| Insight: IOWA 27, #12 MIZZ 24 | ESPN |
2.2
|
450%
|
3,558
|
429%
|
|
| Wed., 12/29/10 | Military: UMD 51, ECU 20 | ESPN |
1.5
|
-21%
|
2,133
|
-23%
|
| Texas: ILL 38, BAY 14 | ESPN |
2.7
|
29%
|
4,184
|
31%
|
|
| Alamo: #14 OKST 36, ARI 10 | ESPN |
2.8
|
-42%
|
4,643
|
-41%
|
|
| Thu., 12/30/10 | Armed Forces: ARMY 16, SMU 14 | ESPN |
1.3
|
-19%
|
1,898
|
-12%
|
| Pinstripe: SYR 36, KST 34 | ESPN |
2.3
|
no game
|
3,460
|
no game
|
|
| Music City: UNC 30, TEN 27 | ESPN |
4.2
|
147%
|
7,107
|
155%
|
|
| Holiday: UW 19, #18 NEB 7 | ESPN |
3.5
|
-5%
|
5,653
|
-8%
|
|
| Fri., 12/31/10 | Meineke Car Care: USF 31, CLEM 26 | ESPN |
2.0
|
-49%
|
2,900
|
-53%
|
| Sun: ND 33, MIA 17 | CBS |
3.0
|
-9%
|
4,609
|
-8%
|
|
| Liberty: #25 UCF 10, UGA 6 | ESPN |
3.0
|
-21%
|
4,755
|
-26%
|
|
| Chick-fil-A: #23 FSU 26, #20 SC 17 | ESPN |
4.3
|
2%
|
7,492
|
0%
|
|
| Sat., 1/1/11 | TicketCity: TTU 45, NWU 38 | ESPNU |
n/a
|
no game
|
n/a
|
no game
|
| Capital One: #16 ALA 49, #9 MSU 7 | ESPN |
3.7
|
-46%
|
6,045
|
-48%
|
|
| Outback: UF 37, PSU 24 | ABC |
7.1
|
103%
|
12,445
|
119%
|
|
| Gator: #21 MISS ST 52, UM 14 | ESPN2 |
1.7
|
-56%
|
2,827
|
-56%
|
|
| Rose: #3 TCU 21, #5 WISC 19 | ESPN |
11.3
|
-14%
|
20,558
|
-14%
|
|
| Fiesta: #7 OK 48, CONN 20 | ESPN |
6.2
|
-24%
|
10,819
|
-22%
|
|
| Mon., 1/3/11 | Orange: #4 STAN 40, #13 VT 12 | ESPN |
6.7
|
-1%
|
10,682
|
-2%
|
| Tue., 1/4/11 | Sugar: #6 OSU 31, #8 ARK 26 | ESPN |
8.2
|
-4%
|
13,635
|
-12%
|
| Thu., 1/6/11 | GoDaddy.com: MIA (OH) 35, MTSU 21 | ESPN |
1.7
|
-29%
|
2,617
|
-26%
|
| Fri., 1/7/11 | Cotton: #11 LSU 41, #17 TAMU 24 | FOX |
5.8
|
29%
|
10,014
|
38%
|
| Sat., 1/8/11 | Compass: PIT 27, UK 10 | ESPN |
2.2
|
38%
|
3,296
|
35%
|
| Sun., 1/9/11 | Kraft Fight Hunger: #15 NEV 20, BC 13 | ESPN |
1.6
|
-65%
|
2,500
|
-67%
|
| Mon., 1/10/11 | BCS National Championship: #1 AUB 22, #2 ORE 19 | ESPN |
15.3
|
-11%
|
27,316
|
-11%
|
(Some ratings/viewership information from al.com, Sports Business Daily)
