Say what you will about how meaningful or meaningless bowl games are these days, but the viewership is telling a clear story.
According to figures released by ESPN PR on Tuesday, non-CFP bowl games are up 18% year-over-year on the family of networks through last weekend. The list is headlined by Saturday’s Valero Alamo Bowl between BYU and Colorado which drew 8.0 million viewers on ABC in primetime, the most-watched non-CFP or New Year’s Six bowl since the Michigan-Alabama Citrus Bowl on New Year’s Day 2020.
🏆@BowlSeason is off to a hot start, with viewership up 18% YOY & several non-CFP bowls scoring multi-year audience highs
🏈 @valeroalamobowl: 8M viewers
🏈 @PopTartsBowl: 6.8M
🏈 @AZOLibertyBowl: 4.2M
🏈 @PinstripeBowl: 4.2M
🏈 @Birmingham_Bowl: 4.1M pic.twitter.com/uMxpQJKQwW— ESPN PR (@ESPNPR) December 31, 2024
And while the Coach Prime effect was on full display during the Alamo Bowl, both in terms of viewership and ABC’s presentation of the game, it wasn’t the only bowl game to set a multi-year record.
The new fan-favorite Pop-Tarts Bowl between Iowa State and Miami in the 3:30 p.m. ET window Saturday on ABC broke a decades-old record. Iowa State’s shootout victory averaged 6.8 million viewers on ABC, the most-watched edition of the bowl game since 2008 when Florida State drubbed Wisconsin under the Champs Sports Bowl branding. (The Pop-Tarts Bowl has undergone several sponsorship changes since then.)
Adding to ESPN’s record spree are the AutoZone Liberty Bowl, Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl, and the unsponsored Birmingham Bowl.
The Liberty Bowl between Texas Tech and Arkansas averaged 4.2 million viewers Friday night on ESPN. Arkansas’ win was the best audience for the game since 2015 when the Razorbacks beat Kansas State.
Saturday’s Pinstripe Bowl featuring Boston College and Nebraska from Yankees Stadium averaged 4.2 million viewers on ABC. Nebraska’s was the most-watched Pinstripe Bowl since 2013 when ratings juggernaut Notre Dame beat Rutgers.
Finally, Friday’s Birmingham Bowl between Georgia Tech and Vanderbilt also cracked the 4-million mark, averaging 4.1 million viewers for the Commodores win in the afternoon window on ESPN. The audience was the largest for the bowl game since 2014 when Vanderbilt also took home the Birmingham Bowl title against Houston ten years ago.
ESPN’s bowl season gains seem especially pronounced in the key demos. Per the network, viewership among persons aged 18 to 49 has outpaced total viewership, with the demo increasing by 27% year-over-year.
In the era of an expanded playoff — which should hypothetically weaken the pool of eligible teams for non-CFP bowl games — and the transfer portal that encourages roster turnover well before the games are played, bowl season seems to be resonating with viewers more than ever.
Why that is the case is anyone’s guess. Clever marketing, the proliferation of sports betting, and better television windows likely all contribute. But given the current college football landscape, in today’s television environment, breaking records that have stood for a decade or more is an impressive feat and one that shouldn’t go unnoticed.
[ESPN PR]