After each game hit multi-year lows last year, the Poinsettia and Potato bowls bounced back on ESPN.
Wednesday’s BYU/Wyoming Poinsettia Bowl had 2.4 million viewers on ESPN, up 72% from Boise State/Northern Illinois in the afternoon last year (1.4M) but down 3% from Navy/San Diego State in primetime two years ago (2.5M). Ratings were not immediately available.
Last year’s game was the least-watched Poinsettia Bowl since 2006. Despite the increase, this year’s game still ranks as the third-least watched since 2007.
On Thursday night, the Idaho/Colorado State Idaho Potato Bowl had 1.1 million — up 6% from Akron/Utah State last year (1.1M) but down 21% from Air Force/Western Michigan in 2014 (1.5M), both of which aired during the afternoon.
The Vandals’ high-scoring win tops only last year as the least-watched edition of the game since 2007 (745K). Not helping matters was the tough head-to-head competition from Thursday Night Football, which had 17.9 million viewers on NBC.
Even if the numbers were not particularly impressive, the Poinsettia and Potato bowls rank among only three FBS games this bowl season to post an increase in viewership. Five games have declined.
