The final game for Tim Tebow — and possibly the final game for the foreseeable future for Urban Meyer — saw a modest increase in ratings and viewership.
Florida’s blowout of Cincinnati in the Sugar Bowl drew an 8.5/15 final rating and 15.5 million viewers on FOX Friday night — up 9% in ratings and 16% in viewership from Utah/Alabama last year (7.8/14, 13.4 mil), and up 21% and 33%, respectively, from Georgia/Hawaii in ’07 (7.0, 11.7 mil).
Compared to last year’s Virginia Tech/Cincinnati Orange Bowl (5.4, 9.3 mil), which aired on New Year’s Day, Friday’s game was up 57% and 67%, respectively.
This marks the third-lowest rated Sugar Bowl of the BCS era, ahead of only the aforementioned 2009 and 2008 games.
However, this also marks the most-viewed Sugar Bowl since the ’04 game, which served as the National Championship Game. Excluding national championship games, this marks the most-viewed Sugar Bowl since 2001.
Ratings/viewership for the Sugar Bowl since ’96
Asterisk (*) indicates National Championship Game
| Year | Date | Game | Net | Rating | Viewers (000) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Fri., 1/1/10 | Florida/Cincinnati | FOX |
8.5
|
15,533
|
| 2009 | Fri., 1/2/09 | Utah/Alabama | FOX |
7.8
|
13,369
|
| 2008 | Tue., 1/1/08 | Georgia/Hawaii | FOX |
7.0
|
11,702
|
| 2007 | Wed., 1/3/07 | LSU/Notre Dame | FOX |
9.3
|
14,417
|
| 2006 | Mon., 1/2/06 | West Virginia/Georgia | ABC |
9.0
|
13,590
|
| 2005 | Mon., 1/3/05 | Auburn/Virginia Tech | ABC |
9.5
|
14,198
|
| 2004 | Sun., 1/4/04 | LSU/Oklahoma* | ABC |
14.8
|
23,937
|
| 2003 | Wed., 1/1/03 | Georgia/Florida St. | ABC |
9.2
|
15,107
|
| 2002 | Tue., 1/1/02 | LSU/Illinois | ABC |
8.6
|
13,058
|
| 2001 | Tue., 1/2/01 | Miami/Florida | ABC |
13.0
|
19,783
|
| 2000 | Tue., 1/4/00 | Florida St./Virginia Tech* | ABC |
17.5
|
26,962
|
| 1999 | Fri., 1/1/99 | Ohio St./Texas A&M | ABC |
11.5
|
—
|
| 1998 | Thu., 1/1/98 | Florida St./Ohio St. | ABC |
11.2
|
—
|
| 1997 | Thu., 1/2/97 | Florida/Florida St* | ABC |
17.9
|
—
|
| 1996 | Sun., 12/31/95 | Virginia Tech/Texas | ABC |
6.3
|
—
|
