Bowl ratings are starting to improve after a slow start.
Wednesday’s Iowa-Boston College Pinstripe Bowl drew 4.0 million viewers on ESPN, up 64% from last year (Northwestern-Pitt: 2.4M), up 6% from 2015 on ABC (Duke-Indiana: 3.8M) and the largest audience for the game since 2013 (Notre Dame-Rutgers: 4.8M). Ratings were not immediately available.
ESPN Nielsen ratings now include streaming viewership on television; all comparisons are to last year’s TV-only numbers.
The Hawkeyes’ win drew the largest audience of the bowl season through Wednesday’s games, topping the Las Vegas Bowl (3.8M). Keep in mind that does not include the San Francisco Bowl on FOX, figures for which were not immediately available.
Earlier in the day, Florida State-Southern Miss had 2.2 million in the Independence Bowl (+35%). Last year’s game, which aired on ESPN2, was the least-watched since 2008.
On Tuesday, Kansas State-UCLA scored 3.3 million in the Cactus Bowl — up 43% from last year (Baylor-Boise State: 2.3M) but down 12% from 2015 (BYU-ASU: 3.7M). The Utah-West Virginia Heart of Dallas Bowl had 2.2 million (+36%), though that was also down from 2015 (2.6M).
Going back to the weekend, Saturday’s Army-San Diego State Armed Forces Bowl had a 2.1 rating and 3.5 million viewers, up 49% in viewership from last year (La. Tech-Navy: 2.3M) and the largest audience for the game since at least 2005. The Texas Tech-USF Birmingham Bowl had a 2.15 and 3.4 million (+47%), its largest audience since 2014.
On Sunday, the Fresno State-Houston Hawaii Bowl had a 1.1 (+57%) and 2.1 million (+53%), its largest audience since 2013 (Oregon State-Boise State: 2.7M). The game aired free from NFL competition for the first time since 2014.
Other games did not fare as well. Wednesday’s Texas-Missouri Texas Bowl had 3.4 million, down 10% from last year (KST-Texas A&M: 3.8M) and its lowest mark since 2009 (Navy-Missouri: 3.2M). Tuesday’s Duke-Northern Illinois Detroit Bowl had 2.5 million (-16%).
Bringing up the rear, Appalachian State’s shutout of Toledo in Saturday’s Mobile Bowl had a 1.0 rating and 1.8 million (-30%), that game’s smallest audience since 2014.
