Despite tough competition, the Citrus Bowl managed a higher overnight rating than the Sugar Bowl on New Year’s Day.
The Michigan/Florida Citrus Bowl drew a 5.4 overnight rating on ABC New Year’s Day, ranking third for the day among college football games (five telecasts). It trailed the Stanford/Iowa in the Rose Bowl (7.9) and Ohio State/Notre Dame in the Fiesta (6.2), the latter of which aired on ESPN in the same 1 PM ET timeslot.
However, the Wolverines’ win did top the Mississippi/Oklahoma State Sugar Bowl, which aired in primetime unopposed by any other bowl game (5.3).
Overnights for previous editions of the Citrus Bowl were unavailable, but the game had a 3.7 final rating last year and a 5.6 in 2014. The last time Michigan and Florida played in the game — 2008 — it had a whopping 9.9 in the metered markets.
In other bowl action, the TCU/Oregon Alamo Bowl scored a 4.8 overnight on ESPN Saturday night — up a third from UCLA/Kansas State last year (3.6) and up 4% from Oregon/Texas in 2014 (4.6). The Arkansas/Kansas State Liberty Bowl drew a 4.5 overnight earlier in the day, and the Georgia/Penn State Gator Bowl had a 3.9. Overnights were not available for the West Virginia/Arizona Cactus Bowl.
(Wknd. overnights via Sports Business Daily, ShowBuzz Daily)
