The Utah/BYU rivalry provided a boost to this year’s Las Vegas Bowl.
Last Saturday’s Utah/BYU Las Vegas Bowl earned a 2.2 final rating and 3.7 million viewers on ABC, per The Salt Lake Tribune — up 57% in ratings and 73% in viewership from Utah/Colorado State last year (1.4, 2.1M) and flat and up 11%, respectively, from USC/Fresno State in 2013 (2.2, 3.3M).
Keep in mind last year’s game faced competition from NFL action on NFL Network.
The Utes’ win ranks the most-watched Las Vegas Bowl since Boise State/Washington in 2012 (4.4M) and the third-most watched edition over the past ten seasons — behind only Boise State/Washington and Boise State/Utah in 2010 (5.4M). It also ranks as the most-watched game of the bowl season through Wednesday (nine total, not counting the FCS Celebration Bowl or the Cure Bowl on non-Nielsen rated CBSSN).
Locally, the game drew a 23.8 rating in Salt Lake City — the market’s highest for a bowl game since 2004. Host market Las Vegas scored a 6.7.
(Numbers via Salt Lake Tribune)
