In Penn State’s return to postseason play, the Pinstripe Bowl hit a three-year low in ratings and viewership.
The Penn State/Boston College Pinstripe Bowl drew a 2.4 final rating and 4.0 million viewers on ESPN Saturday afternoon, down 25% in ratings and 18% in viewership from Notre Dame/Rutgers last year (3.2, 4.8M) and down 29% and 23%, respectively, from Syracuse/West Virginia in 2012 (3.4, 5.1M).
The Nittany Lions’ overtime win ranks as the lowest rated and least-watched Pinstripe Bowl since Rutgers/Iowa State in 2011 (2.1, 3.2M). Overall, the game ranks third out of the five Pinstripe Bowl games, topping both 2011 and the inaugural 2010 game (2.3, 3.5M).
Keep in mind the Pinstripe Bowl aired head-to-head with the Miami/South Carolina Independence Bowl on broadcast network ABC. Final numbers for that game were not immediately available, but it had a 2.6 overnight. Last year’s Pinstripe Bowl had no such competition.
(Sat. numbers via Bloomberg/ShowBuzz Daily)
