The Sugar Bowl managed a slight increase over last year, but still earned one of the lowest ratings ever for the Bowl Championship Series.
Wednesday’s Louisville/Florida Sugar Bowl drew a 6.2 U.S. rating and 10.1 million viewers on ESPN, according to Nielsen fast-nationals — up a tick in ratings and 4% in viewership from Michigan/Virginia Tech last year (6.1, 9.7M), but down 24% and 26%, respectively, from Ohio State/Arkansas in 2011 (8.2, 13.6M).
The 6.2 rating is tied as the fifth-lowest ever for a Bowl Championship Series telecast, matching the 2011 Fiesta Bowl [see chart].
In addition, the 6.2 is the second-lowest for the Sugar Bowl since the 1993-94 season, when Florida/West Virginia drew a 5.2. Only last year’s game drew a lower rating.
Six of the seven lowest-rated BCS bowls have aired on ESPN, and nine of the ten lowest rated have been Sugar or Orange bowls. Twelve of the thirteen lowest rated have involved a team either from the Big East or ACC.
10 Lowest Rated BCS Bowls
Big East/ACC teams in bold
|
#
|
Date
|
Bowl |
Away
|
Home |
Net
|
Rating |
Viewers
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wed., 1/4/12 | Orange | West Virginia | Clemson | ESPN |
4.5
|
7.2M
|
| 2 | Thu., 1/1/09 | Orange | Virginia Tech | Cincinnati | FOX |
5.4
|
9.3M
|
| T3 | Tue., 1/3/12 | Sugar | Michigan | Virginia Tech | ESPN |
6.1
|
9.7M
|
| Tue. 1/1/13 | Orange | FSU | No. Illinois | ESPN |
6.1
|
10.6M
|
|
| T5 | Wed., 1/2/13 | Sugar | Louisville | Florida | ESPN |
6.2
|
10.1M
|
| Sat., 1/1/11 | Fiesta | Oklahoma | Connecticut | ESPN |
6.2
|
10.8M
|
|
| 7 | Mon., 1/3/11 | Orange | Stanford | Virginia Tech | ESPN |
6.7
|
10.7M
|
| 8 | Tue., 1/5/10 | Orange | Iowa | Georgia Tech | FOX |
6.8
|
10.9M
|
| T9 | Tue., 1/2/07 | Orange | Louisville | Wake Forest | FOX |
7.0
|
10.7M
|
| Tue., 1/1/08 | Sugar | Georgia | Hawaii | FOX |
7.0
|
11.7M
|
(Wednesday’s numbers from ESPN Media Zone)
