Bowl game changes on horizon in 2024

While the College Football Playoff has undoubtedly diminished the importance of bowl games, they are not going away. And a bigger playoff might be a chance for bowl season to reinvent itself.

By RALPH D. RUSSO - AP COLLEGE FOOTBALL WRITER

January 6, 2023 - 2:59 PM

Georgia Bulldogs running back Kenny McIntosh (6) takes a Stetson Bennett pass in for a touchdown during the first quarter of the College Football Playoff Semifinal between the Georgia Bulldogs and the Ohio State Buckeyes at the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl In Atlanta on Saturday, Dec. 31, 2022. (Hyosub Shin / [email protected])

College football’s bowl season began on Dec. 16, at 11:30 a.m. Eastern, with two .500 teams squaring off in a 15,000-seat stadium in the Bahamas.

UAB’s 24-20 victory against Miami (Ohio) drew an average of 822,000 viewers to ESPN. It ended up being the least-watched of 39 bowl games on ESPN’s networks and one of only two with fewer than 1 million viewers.

For perspective, heading into a Christmas Day, NBA games on ESPN, ABC and TNT drew an average of 1.5 million viewers, according to Sports MediaWatch.

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