While the Rose Bowl sank to a record low, final ratings for the Fiesta Bowl were up by over a third.
The 2012 Fiesta Bowl, won by #3 Oklahoma State over #4 Stanford in overtime, earned an 8.4 U.S. rating and 13.684 million viewers on ESPN Monday night — up 35% in ratings and 26% in viewership from last year (OKLA/CONN: 6.2, 10.819M), and up 2% and down 1%, respectively, from 2009 (BOISE/TCU: 8.2, 13.820M, FOX).
This marks the highest rated Fiesta Bowl since 2009 (TEX/OSU: 10.4), but the third-least viewed of the past decade.
While the Fiesta Bowl was never a particularly strong draw — in the final year before the BCS began, the game drew a 5.8 rating — the numbers have fallen off in recent years.
During the first five years of the BCS era, the Fiesta Bowl drew a double-digit rating four times (the game served as the National Championship Game in 1999 and 2003). In seven of the past nine years, however, the game has failed to draw at least 9% of U.S. TV homes.
Ratings/Viewership For the Fiesta Bowl
Past ten years
|
Season
|
Date
|
Game
|
Net
|
Rating
|
Viewers (000)
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
2011-12
|
Mon., 1/2/12 | OKST 41, STAN 38 | ESPN |
8.4
|
13,684
|
|
2010-11
|
Sat., 1/1/11 | OKLA 48, CONN 20 | ESPN |
6.2
|
10,819
|
|
2009-10
|
Mon., 1/4/10 | BOISE 17, TCU 10 | FOX |
8.2
|
13,820
|
|
2008-09
|
Mon., 1/5/09 | TEX 24, OSU 21 | FOX |
10.4
|
17,056
|
|
2007-08
|
Wed., 1/2/08 | WVU 48, OK 28 | FOX |
7.7
|
12,164
|
|
2006-07
|
Mon., 1/1/07 | BOISE 43, OK 42 | FOX |
8.4
|
13,778
|
|
2005-06
|
Mon., 1/2/06 | OSU 34, ND 20 | ABC |
12.9
|
20,601
|
|
2004-05
|
Sat., 1/1/05 | UTAH 35, PIT 7 | ABC |
7.4
|
12,216
|
|
2003-04
|
Fri., 1/2/04 | OSU 35, KST 28 | ABC |
8.5
|
13,690
|
|
2002-03
|
Fri., 1/3/03 | OSU 31, MIA 24* | ABC |
17.2
|
29,104
|
|
2001-02
|
Tue., 1/1/02 | ORE 38, COL 16 | ABC |
11.3
|
18,229
|
(Numbers from ESPN)
