College football bowl games performed very well for ESPN over New Year’s weekend.
Six of the seven bowl games televised by the ESPN family of networks had increases in overnight ratings from last year, with the seventh game holding steady.
On New Year’s Eve, the Houston/Air Force Armed Forces Bowl drew a 1.8 overnight rating, up 13% from a 1.6 for last year’s matchup between the same two teams. That was followed up with a 2.3 overnight for the Navy/Missouri Texas Bowl, up 2,200% from a 0.1 for last year’s game on NFL Network.
The last game of 2009, the Virginia Tech/Tennessee Chick-Fil-A Bowl, drew a 4.3 overnight — up 19% from a 3.6 for last year’s LSU/Georgia Tech matchup. The game drew an 11.2 in Richmond, VA, and a 10.2 in Norfolk, VA, records for bowl games on ESPN/ESPN2 in each market. The game also drew a 30.6 rating in Knoxville, TN.
On New Year’s Day, the Northwestern/Auburn Outback Bowl drew a 3.7 overnight rating, up 32% from last year’s 2.8 for South Carolina/Iowa. The game drew a 7.1 rating in Chicago, the best ever for an ESPN/ESPN2 bowl game in the market. Nationally, the game finished behind the Gator Bowl on CBS (4.3 overnight), but outdrew the NHL Winter Classic on NBC (2.6).
ESPN finished the weekend with a trio of games on Saturday. The South Carolina/Connecticut Papajohns.com Bowl drew a 1.9 overnight rating, flat compared to last year’s N.C. State/Rutgers matchup. The Arkansas/ECU Liberty Bowl that followed drew a far heftier 4.2 overnight, up 68% from a 2.5 for ECU/Kentucky last year.
The night ended with the Texas Tech/Michigan State Alamo Bowl drawing a 5.2 overnight, up 30% from last year.
(ESPN PR)
