Despite a blowout, the Liberty Bowl scored its largest audience in at least a decade.
Saturday’s Arkansas/Kansas State Liberty Bowl drew 7.0 million viewers on ESPN, up 113% from Texas A&M/West Virginia last year (3.3M) and up 186% from Mississippi State/Rice two seasons ago (2.5M). Ratings were not immediately available.
The Razorbacks’ win ranks as the most-watched Liberty Bowl in at least ten seasons, topping the previous mark of 6.4 million for Arkansas/ECU in January 2010.
Excluding the New Year’s Six, it was also the second-most watched bowl game on ESPN this season (28 telecasts), behind only the Alamo Bowl later in the day (7.4M). It had the largest year-over-year increase of any ESPN bowl, even topping the 104% rise for the Cotton Bowl — one of the College Football Playoff semifinals.
(Sat. numbers via ShowBuzz Daily)
