Jan. 3, 2007
The 2006 Alamo Bowl between the Iowa Hawkeyes and Texas Longhorn was the most-watched college bowl game in ESPN history. The contest earned a 6.0 rating which translates into 5,521,220 households and 8.83 million viewers when considering a 1.6 viewers-per-household factor.
“The Alamo Bowl continues to be a tremendous success story and this rating certainly speaks to that,” said Dave Brown, Vice President, ESPN programming and acquisitions. “Our thanks go out to both the University of Iowa and Texas, the Alamo Bowl and the city of San Antonio for a great game that was enjoyed by a record number of our viewers. We are already looking forward to 2007!”
University of Iowa Director of Athletics Gary Barta was also impressed with the television numbers.
“We knew playing Texas had the chance to be something special. We’re disappointed we didn’t win the game, but extremely proud to have played in front of a record Alamo Bowl crowd and the most watched bowl game in ESPN history….it was a great college football environment,” said Barta.
“I want to congratulate and thank Derrick Fox, Bob Cohen, and everyone in San Antonio for putting on a first-class event. We’re also grateful to Hawkeye fans for once again showing the country the great passion surrounding the program and our University.”
The mark exceeds the 2005 Alamo Bowl between Michigan and Nebraska which was previously ESPN’s most-watched bowl and college football game in their history with a 5.4 rating with 4,875,543 households and 7.8 million viewers.
“The 2005 Alamo Bowl was a tough act to follow, but thanks to the fan following of these two storied football programs, a clear television window and the competitiveness of the game an additional one million viewers tuned in and the largest sports crowd in Alamodome history saw the game in person,” said Derrick Fox, President/CEO of the Alamo Bowl. “ESPN’s four-hour telecast provided tremendous exposure for the City of San Antonio and our game sponsors. It’s gratifying that fans across the nation again tuned into the Alamo Bowl in record numbers.”
Since 1995, the Alamo Bowl has produced eight of the Top 20 most-watched bowl games in ESPN history.
The 2006 Alamo Bowl, which featured Texas’ 26-24 victory over Iowa, was on Saturday, December 30 at 3:30 p.m. CST and kicked off in front of an Alamodome record 65,875 fans. The 2005 MasterCard Alamo Bowl, which featured Nebraska’s 32-28 victory over Michigan, kicked off on Wednesday, December 28 at 7 p.m. CST in front of 62,016 fans.
ESPN/ESPN2 COLLEGE BOWL GAMES–RANKING BY MOST-WATCHED
DATE EVENT NAME TEAMS RTG. HHIMPS VIEWERS12/30/2006 ALAMO BOWL TEXAS vs. IOWA 6.00 5,521,220 8,833,95212/28/2005 ALAMO BOWL NEBRASKA vs. MICH. 5.41 4,875,543 7,800,86912/30/2005 PEACH BOWL LSU VS. MIAMI 5.22 4,706,275 7,530,04012/30/1998 HOLIDAY BOWL NEBRASKA vs. ARIZONA 6.02 4,556,937 7,291,09912/29/2005 HOLIDAY BOWL OREGON vs. OKLAHOMA 5.06 4,555,583 7,288,933
Top 10 Alamo Bowl Football Attendances 1. 65,875 Alamo Bowl, Dec. 30, 2006 (Texas vs. Iowa)2. 65,380 SYLVANIA Alamo Bowl, Dec. 28, 1999 (Penn State vs. Texas A&M)3. 65,265 MasterCard Alamo Bowl, Dec. 29, 2004 (Ohio State vs. Oklahoma State)4. 65,232 SYLVANIA Alamo Bowl, Dec. 29, 2001 (Texas Tech vs. Iowa)5. 64,597 Builders Square Alamo Bowl, Dec. 28, 1995 (Michigan vs. Texas A&M)6. 62,016 MasterCard Alamo Bowl, Dec. 28, 2005 (Michigan vs. Nebraska)7. 60,780 Builders Square Alamo Bowl, Dec. 29, 1998 (Kansas State vs. Purdue)8. 60,028 SYLVANIA Alamo Bowl, Dec. 30, 2000 (Nebraska vs. Northwestern)9. 56,229 MasterCard Alamo Bowl, Dec. 29, 2003 (Nebraska vs. Michigan State)10. 55,677 Builders Square Alamo Bowl, Dec. 29, 1996 (Texas Tech vs. Iowa)