The Liberty Bowl scored its best television audience in four years.
The Texas A&M/West Virginia Liberty Bowl drew 3.3 million viewers on ESPN, up 34% from Mississippi State/Rice last year (2.5M), up 22% from Tulsa/Iowa State in 2012 (2.7M), and the most-watched Liberty Bowl since UCF/Georgia in the 2010-11 season (4.8M).
The Aggies’ win snapped a four-year streak of declines in which the game shed nearly four million viewers — dropping from 6.4 million in the 2009-10 season to 2.5 million last year.
Though the bowl season has been marked by some notable declines, especially for the New Year’s Eve games, the Liberty Bowl was one of eight to hit a viewership high. The Heart of Dallas, St. Petersburg, Military and Texas bowls each set viewership records, and the Holiday (since 2005), Belk (since at least 2006) and Music City (since 2010) were the most-watched in several years.
(Mon. numbers from ShowBuzz Daily)
