Pairing two of college football’s premier programs, the Citrus Bowl was a ratings hit.
Wednesday’s Alabama-Michigan Citrus Bowl averaged 14.00 million viewers on ABC, marking the largest audience for the game in 12 years (2008 Michigan-Florida: 14.78M), and its fourth-largest audience on record (dates back to 1991). Ratings were not immediately available.
Except for playoff games, national championships and the Rose Bowl, Alabama’s win was the most-watched bowl game since the 2014 Sugar Bowl (Oklahoma-Alabama: 16.34M). Not coincidentally, that was the last time Alabama played a bowl game with no championship implications.
Viewership soared 82% from last year (Kentucky-Penn State: 7.71M) and 61% from 2017 (Notre Dame-LSU: 8.71M).
Later in the day, the Oregon-Wisconsin Rose Bowl averaged 16.30 million on ESPN — down 3% from last year (Ohio State-Washington: 16.78M), but up 4% from 2017 (USC-Penn State: 15.74M). The 2018 Oklahoma-Georgia game was a College Football Playoff semifinal and averaged 26.91 million.
Outside of the playoff and national championship, the Ducks’ win ranks as the second-most watched bowl game since the aforementioned 2014 Sugar Bowl.
The Georgia-Baylor Sugar Bowl averaged 10.22 million, down 23% from last year (Texas-Georgia: 13.30M) but up 7% from 2017 (Oklahoma-Auburn: 9.52M). The 2018 Alabama-Clemson game was a College Football Playoff semifinal and averaged 21.47 million.
On Tuesday, the Utah-Texas Alamo Bowl averaged 5.61 million viewers on ESPN (+1%) — the largest audience for the game in four years (2016 TCU-Oregon: 7.31M). The Liberty Bowl (Navy-Kansas State) averaged 3.33 million (-13%), its smallest audience in three years (2016: Georgia-TCU: 3.13M).
Despite moving from broadcast to cable, the Belk Bowl (Virginia Tech-Kentucky) was up 3% to 2.62 million. Last year’s game aired opposite the Peach Bowl.
Finally, FOX averaged 1.87 million for Monday’s Illinois-Cal San Francisco Bowl (-51%), the smallest audience for that game since 2012 on ESPN2 (Arizona State-Navy: 1.07M).
Figures were not immediately available for Wednesday’s Outback Bowl on ESPN (Auburn-Minnesota) or Tuesday’s Sun Bowl on CBS (Arizona State-Florida State).
[Nielsen estimates from ESPN PR 1.2, ShowBuzz Daily 1.2, Sports Business Daily 1.2]
