Based on Nielsen’s Fast National ratings, ESPN’s coverage of the Allstate Sugar Bowl on January 2 averaged 10,125,000 viewers based on a 7.2 household coverage rating (6.2 US rating). The telecast – No. 21 Louisville defeating No. 3 Florida 33-23 after leading 30-10 going into the fourth quarter – showed viewership and ratings increases of 4 percent (vs. 9,708,000 viewers) and 1 percent (vs. 7.1 coverage rating), respectively, over the 2012 Allstate Sugar Bowl. Last year’s matchup featured No. 13 Michigan beating No. 11 Virginia Tech 23-20 in overtime.

Combined, the Allstate Sugar Bowl, Rose Bowl Game Presented by VIZIO and Discover Orange Bowl are averaging 12,535,000 viewers based on an 8.4 household coverage rating (7.2 US rating). The three-game average marks viewership and ratings increases of 9 percent (vs. 11,474,000 viewers) and 4 percent (vs. 8.1 coverage rating) over the combined average of the 2012 Rose Bowl Presented by VIZIO, Discover Orange Bowl and Allstate Sugar Bowl games.

In the markets of participating teams, the Allstate Sugar Bowl was the highest-rated ESPN bowl game telecast in Louisville on record (back to 2000) with a 28.4 average rating. It was also the third highest-rated ESPN bowl game telecast in Jacksonville (16.0 rating) and Orlando (14.1 rating) behind the 2012 and 2011 BCS National Championship games, respectively, in each market. The telecast also averaged a 23.5 in Birmingham, 17.2 in New Orleans, 12.4 in Knoxville, 12.1 in Atlanta, 12.0 in Tampa and 11.5 in West Palm Beach.

Digital Audiences
College football content on ESPN.com for New Year’s Day generated an average minute audience of nearly 24,000, up 27 percent over last year. On the Mobile Web, the average minute audience for ESPN college football content was up 21 percent over 2012, while the college football card on ESPN’s new ScoreCenter app, which re-launched last month, saw an average minute audience of more than 3,000. ESPN’s College Football app had an average minute audience of 4,000, an increase of more than 33 percent compared to last year’s ESPN Bowl Bound app.

ESPN & the BCS
ESPN’s third year of exclusive coverage of the five BCS matchups will continue tonight with the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl (Thursday, Jan. 3) and Discover BCS National Championship (Monday, Jan. 7). Overall, ESPN, ESPN Radio, ESPN Deportes and WatchESPN will present all five BCS Bowl games with ESPN 3D also televising Allstate Sugar Bowl and Discover BCS National Championship.

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