Continuing the early trend of the college football bowl season, the Hawaii Bowl earned its smallest audience in several years.
The Rice/Fresno State Hawaii Bowl drew 1.9 million viewers on ESPN last Wednesday night, down 30% from Oregon State/Boise State last year (2.7M) and down 22% from SMU/Fresno State in 2012 (2.4M). Ratings for the game were not immediately available.
The Owls’ blowout win ranks as the least-watched Hawaii Bowl since at least 2006. Every edition of the game from 2007-13 drew at least two million viewers.
The Hawaii Bowl capped off an ugly start to the bowl season. Of the six bowls through December 24 that could be compared to last year, five had double-digit declines in viewership. Of those five, four hit a multi-year low.
(Wed. numbers from ShowBuzz Daily)
