For the second-straight year, the Las Vegas Bowl shed more than one million viewers despite airing on broadcast network ABC.
The Utah/Colorado State Las Vegas Bowl earned a 1.4 final rating and 2.1 million viewers on ABC December 20, down 37% in ratings and 36% in viewership from USC/Fresno State last year (2.2, 3.3M) and down 52% in both measures from Boise State/Washington on ESPN in 2012 (2.9, 4.4M).
The Utes’ blowout win ranks as the least-watched Las Vegas Bowl since at least 2006, with no other edition of the game dipping below three million over that span. In two years on ABC, the Las Vegas Bowl has declined by double-digits both years.
Keep in mind the game overlapped with the New Mexico Bowl on ESPN (1.3, 1.9M), though that was also the case last year. Unlike last year, there was additional competition in the form of regular season NFL action on NFL Network (4.4, 7.2M).
The Las Vegas Bowl was part of a rough start to the bowl season. Of the first four bowls that can be compared to last year (New Orleans, New Mexico, Potato and Las Vegas), three hit multi-year lows in ratings and viewership.
(Numbers via Nielsen)
