Outside of the New Year’s Six, no game this bowl season was as big a draw as Michigan’s win in the Citrus Bowl. In other bowl news, CBS posted a six-year viewership high for the Sun Bowl, and a thrilling finish could not keep Pinstripe Bowl ratings afloat.
Citrus Bowl Leads Non-NY6 Bowl Slate
- The Michigan/Florida Citrus Bowl drew a 5.1 final rating and 8.8 million viewers on ABC New Year’s Day, up 42% in ratings and 46% in viewership from Missouri/Minnesota last year (3.6, 6.0M) but down 9% in both measures from South Carolina/Wisconsin in 2014 (5.6, 9.6M). The Wolverines’ win earned the largest audience of the bowl season outside of the New Year’s Six. Coverage aired directly opposite the Ohio State/Notre Dame Fiesta Bowl on ESPN (5.6, 9.8M), with the games combining for approximately 18.5 million viewers — up 23% from the Citrus and Cotton bowls in the same window last year (15.1M).
Sun Bowl Most-Watched Since 2009
- Back on December 26, the Washington State/Miami Sun Bowl had a 2.9 final rating and 4.7 million viewers on CBS — up 26% in ratings and 32% in viewership from Arizona State/Duke last year (2.3, 3.7M) and up 21% and 28%, respectively, from UCLA/Virginia Tech two seasons ago (2.4, 3.7M). The Cougars’ win was the highest rated edition of the game since Notre Dame/Miami in 2010 (3.0) and the most-watched since Oklahoma/Stanford in 2009 (5.0M).
Pinstripe Bowl Drops
- Also on December 26, ABC posted a 2.3 final rating and 3.8 million viewers for the Duke/Indiana Pinstripe Bowl — down a tick in ratings and 5% in viewership from Penn State/Boston College last year (2.4, 4.0M) and down 28% and 22%, respectively, from Notre Dame/Rutgers two seasons ago (3.2, 4.8M), which both aired on ESPN. Duke’s overtime win drew the second-smallest audience in the history of the game (dates back to 2010) and tied the second-lowest rating. It was one of 23 bowl games this season to have a decline in viewership, compared to 15 games that increased.
