Orange Bowl draws dismal TV ratings

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A Triple Option team versus one that scored 10, 24, and 12 in their last three games. Not exactly "must see" TV.
 



howeda7 said:
The Orange Bowl Comittee doesn't directly care about the TV ratings. They care how many fans you will bring and whether or not those fans are from out of town. Iowa had PSU beat in that regard. They brought more fans then PSU would have and a higher % were not already in the area. If Fox got to pick, they'd have chosen PSU.
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Agreed, mostly. It all depends on the matchup. In this case, Georgia Tech has a fan following similar to Minnesota (major metropolitan area with a fickle pro sports-minded fan base), and Iowa has no population. So of course the ratings will suck. I was surprised that they had entire sections of the upper deck tarped off...but that goes back to GT having no fans. I'm sure Iowa did their part to bring folks to the game.

And for the record, the Insight Bowl had the worst ratings of the bowl season (673,000). To be expected, since it was on a channel nobody gets.
 


Jike Spingleton said:
Agreed, mostly. It all depends on the matchup. In this case, Georgia Tech has a fan following similar to Minnesota (major metropolitan area with a fickle pro sports-minded fan base), and Iowa has no population. So of course the ratings will suck. I was surprised that they had entire sections of the upper deck tarped off...but that goes back to GT having no fans. I'm sure Iowa did their part to bring folks to the game.

And for the record, the Insight Bowl had the worst ratings of the bowl season (673,000). To be expected, since it was on a channel nobody gets.
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The match-up matters, but the particular markets do not make that much of an impact (i.e. Nebraska has no population either, but is more attractive nation-wide.) Also, if the game gets a 25rating in Atlanta or a 10 has very little effect on the national ratings.

In reality the competition on Tuesday had a huge impact. The ratings for the Fiesta Bowl on Monday were signifcantly higher even though it was arguably no more attractive. (Cinderella is a draw, but not so much when it's Cinderella vs. Cinderella). But Monday's normal winner (CBS) went with repeats. Meanwhile, both CBS (NCIS I and II) and NBC (Biggest Loser) went with original programming on Tuesday and got huge #'s. That had more impact on the ratings of each game then anything.
 

I think spreading out the bowls over several nights has hurt the TV audience. Even though it's been 10 years or so, I think people are still used to hunkering down and watching some great bowls on New Year's Day. Aside from maybe the national championship game, I think casual sports fans are pretty much done with college football after Jan. 1; they forget that there are games the following evening and maybe are on to something else -- their favorite TV shows coming back after a month of reruns, college basketball, etc.

Also, as much as people say they like to see new, up-and-coming teams crash the party, the traditional powers attract more casual viewers. From that aspect, the Orange Bowl has had some very unappealing games for a few years.
 

Hates Monikers said:
I think spreading out the bowls over several nights has hurt the TV audience. Even though it's been 10 years or so, I think people are still used to hunkering down and watching some great bowls on New Year's Day. Aside from maybe the national championship game, I think casual sports fans are pretty much done with college football after Jan. 1;
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This is a good point. This was made worse this year by the next BCS game not happening until the 4th. At least when they have 1 game New Year's night, and the next the following night they can promote it, etc. A 3 day gap, during which people switched thier attention back to the NFL didn't help. The game on Monday did OK due to weaker competition as noted, but also perhaps due to people looking for a football game to watch on Monday night out of habit. But Tuesday they had moved on to other things.
 

maybe the second round of the playoffs will be better.

Oh wait...nevermind.
 



howeda7 said:
In reality the competition on Tuesday had a huge impact. The ratings for the Fiesta Bowl on Monday were signifcantly higher even though it was arguably no more attractive. (Cinderella is a draw, but not so much when it's Cinderella vs. Cinderella). But Monday's normal winner (CBS) went with repeats. Meanwhile, both CBS (NCIS I and II) and NBC (Biggest Loser) went with original programming on Tuesday and got huge #'s. That had more impact on the ratings of each game then anything.
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Also I could see how the casual fan might see if something else was on after catching a glimpse of Dick Stockton's hair. :eek:
 

howeda7 said:
The Orange Bowl Comittee doesn't directly care about the TV ratings. They care how many fans you will bring and whether or not those fans are from out of town. Iowa had PSU beat in that regard. They brought more fans then PSU would have and a higher % were not already in the area. If Fox got to pick, they'd have chosen PSU.
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I was at the Orange Bowl in 2006 when Penn State beat FSU in overtime. The game was sold out and the crowd was easily split 70/30 in favor of Penn State. I know Iowa will travel but Penn State's travelling fanbase dwarfs them.
 

Norseland Store said:
I was at the Orange Bowl in 2006 when Penn State beat FSU in overtime. The game was sold out and the crowd was easily split 70/30 in favor of Penn State. I know Iowa will travel but Penn State's travelling fanbase dwarfs them.
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Comparing 2006 and 2010 is apples and, well, oranges. I believe the economy and the fact that people would have to take vacation days cut into the Iowa contingent. I saw estimates of between 25K and 35K Hawk fans there (as opposed to the 150,000 that went in 2003 ;)). Had we been picked for the Fiesta I'm thinking between a quarter and up to a half again as many 'Iowegians' would have been there. Certainly PSU has a far larger alumni base but I'm not sure 'dwarfs' is accurate as far as comparing the travelling fan bases.
 

The Orange Bowl has suffred the most from...

The move away from New Years Day. IMO. The "prime time" slot they had was great for them ratings wise. Audience would build to the Rose Bowl, and most would hang on, even in the post BCS years and the national title no longer included them. Just capped the bowl watching nicely. I forgot it was on this year. Iowa Vs. GT? more people watched the "Left Behind" bowl.
 



Norseland Store said:
I was at the Orange Bowl in 2006 when Penn State beat FSU in overtime. The game was sold out and the crowd was easily split 70/30 in favor of Penn State. I know Iowa will travel but Penn State's travelling fanbase dwarfs them.
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The 2003 Orange Bowl had 48,000 Iowa fans there. The 2010 Orange Bowl had 35,000 Iowa fans there. PSU travels well, but certainly doesn't "dwarf" Iowa.
 

Norseland Store said:
I was at the Orange Bowl in 2006 when Penn State beat FSU in overtime. The game was sold out and the crowd was easily split 70/30 in favor of Penn State. I know Iowa will travel but Penn State's travelling fanbase dwarfs them.
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I'm not sure I would call getting in the car and driving over to the game traveling. Those that don't live in southern Florida were probably visiting relatives for the holidays and it included the game.
 

tjgopher said:
The 2003 Orange Bowl had 48,000 Iowa fans there. The 2010 Orange Bowl had 35,000 Iowa fans there. PSU travels well, but certainly doesn't "dwarf" Iowa.
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Let's see, let's say only a quarter of Pennsylvania is a Penn State football fan. That is about 2-3 million people. Are there that many people in Iowa, much less say Hawkeye football fans?

TJ - if you've never been, you do need to make it to State College for a Penn State football gameday. It's quite the spectacle.
 


SoMplsHawkI said:
Yes and probably.
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Then seriously, if there are so many people who call themselves rabid Iowa fans why can't 6 or 7 thousand of them end-up over at Carver Hawkeye? A FULL house seems unimaginable.

The constant "Kinnick North" posts ring pretty damn hollow considering the tens of thousands of Iowa natives living-up here. Then you see thousands of empty basketball seats right on the Iowa campus. Great travelers indeed!

All the high and mighty "we're REAL fans" boasts from Iowa and to a lesser extent, Wisconsin fans, are meaningless when you look around. No empty basketball arenas in Iowa and Milwaukee? Cubs and yes, TWINS games at Miller Park featuring tens of thousands of non-Brewer fans? On campus, Wisconsin has done a damn good job of filling football seats for years. Long term basketball fans however, know that basketball seats were pretty easy to obtain before Bennett got there.

Up here with four professional teams plus the U, only the hockey teams have that fan "cushion"; though one can always get tickets, they are always sold out.

Just please, until Iowa can "travel" across campus, Iowa fans should acknowledge that they are great fans of football and WINNING teams only. There certainly aren't tens of thousands of real IOWA fans.
 

Iceland12 said:
Then seriously, if there are so many people who call themselves rabid Iowa fans why can't 6 or 7 thousand of them end-up over at Carver Hawkeye? A FULL house seems unimaginable.

The constant "Kinnick North" posts ring pretty damn hollow considering the tens of thousands of Iowa natives living-up here. Then you see thousands of empty basketball seats right on the Iowa campus. Great travelers indeed!

All the high and mighty "we're REAL fans" boasts from Iowa and to a lesser extent, Wisconsin fans, are meaningless when you look around. No empty basketball arenas in Iowa and Milwaukee? Cubs and yes, TWINS games at Miller Park featuring tens of thousands of non-Brewer fans? On campus, Wisconsin has done a damn good job of filling football seats for years. Long term basketball fans however, know that basketball seats were pretty easy to obtain before Bennett got there.

Up here with four professional teams plus the U, only the hockey teams have that fan "cushion"; though one can always get tickets, they are always sold out.

Just please, until Iowa can "travel" across campus, Iowa fans should acknowledge that they are great fans of football and WINNING teams only. There certainly aren't tens of thousands of real IOWA fans.
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I will agree that fan turnout at Carver is extremely poor. Iowa had a stint between 2002-2006 where almost every game was sold out but now that Lickliter had ruined the program people have already given up. Iowa has a very strong base of fans and travel much better than Minnesota in football. I think we can all agree that in football it is far from close. I watched many gopher football games this season and TCF, despite being announced as a sellout, had a couple thousand seats empty for most of the games. While I understand your frustration with other Iowa fans, there is no need to imply that Minnesota is any better with fans, because frankly they are not.
 

PapaHawk21 said:
I will agree that fan turnout at Carver is extremely poor. Iowa had a stint between 2002-2006 where almost every game was sold out but now that Lickliter had ruined the program people have already given up. Iowa has a very strong base of fans and travel much better than Minnesota in football. I think we can all agree that in football it is far from close. I watched many gopher football games this season and TCF, despite being announced as a sellout, had a couple thousand seats empty for most of the games. While I understand your frustration with other Iowa fans, there is no need to imply that Minnesota is any better with fans, because frankly they are not.
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Which, if you read the post again, you'll that there was no such implication. Wonder why you felt the need to deflect the discussion?

What the post DID say and your note about how Carver Hawkeye was packed but now that they are losing again it's empty, confirms is that Iowa has no better fans then Minnesota. That probably applies to the vast majority of schools for that matter; at least the ones in major metropolitan areas. Minnesota packed Williams Arena for years, then they started to lose. The football team has lost consistently for 40 years. Win again and they will pack it. Lose again and they won't.

Every time an Iowa fan comes on here talking about how "great Iowa fans" are they should always remember to put the word "football" between "Iowa" and "fans".

Because unlike Minnesota (as you are well aware of) or even Wisconsin, were there are other options for the sports dollar, down there there ain't. Iowa tried to sell tickets for what $5 this year, for some Non-Conference games and they couldn't get 5,000 people into Carver Hawkeye.

"Frankly" as you state, if that isn't an example of "front runner" fans what is? Gopher football fans, T-Wolves fans, Brewer fans, Bucks fans etc. all know what that's about. Hawkeye fans if they were a little more honest, know that too.
 

Iceland12 said:
Which, if you read the post again, you'll that there was no such implication. Wonder why you felt the need to deflect the discussion?

What the post DID say and your note about how Carver Hawkeye was packed but now that they are losing again it's empty, confirms is that Iowa has no better fans then Minnesota. That probably applies to the vast majority of schools for that matter; at least the ones in major metropolitan areas. Minnesota packed Williams Arena for years, then they started to lose. The football team has lost consistently for 40 years. Win again and they will pack it. Lose again and they won't.

Every time an Iowa fan comes on here talking about how "great Iowa fans" are they should always remember to put the word "football" between "Iowa" and "fans".

Because unlike Minnesota (as you are well aware of) or even Wisconsin, were there are other options for the sports dollar, down there there ain't. Iowa tried to sell tickets for what $5 this year, for some Non-Conference games and they couldn't get 5,000 people into Carver Hawkeye.

"Frankly" as you state, if that isn't an example of "front runner" fans what is? Gopher football fans, T-Wolves fans, Brewer fans, Bucks fans etc. all know what that's about. Hawkeye fans if they were a little more honest, know that too.
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Historically Iowa basketball attendance appears really good. The below link shows Iowa was in the top 17 nationally for 25 straight seasons, 1978-2002. They finished in the top 10 nine times. The last two seasons they were 37th and 34th nationally. This year will be bad from what I saw yesterday and against the Gophers. So your point is flawed, I would guess it is more of not being happy with the current coaching situation. Iowa had some bad teams under Tom Davis and Alford but the below numbers show the fans still turned out. Lickliter is not well liked and not being supported. Your ultimate point is correct, win and teams pack the seats.


http://www.ncaa.org/wps/portal/ncaa...ion/Stats/M+Basketball/Attendance/index2.html
 

Iceland12 said:
Then seriously, if there are so many people who call themselves rabid Iowa fans why can't 6 or 7 thousand of them end-up over at Carver Hawkeye? A FULL house seems unimaginable.

The constant "Kinnick North" posts ring pretty damn hollow considering the tens of thousands of Iowa natives living-up here. Then you see thousands of empty basketball seats right on the Iowa campus. Great travelers indeed!

All the high and mighty "we're REAL fans" boasts from Iowa and to a lesser extent, Wisconsin fans, are meaningless when you look around. No empty basketball arenas in Iowa and Milwaukee? Cubs and yes, TWINS games at Miller Park featuring tens of thousands of non-Brewer fans? On campus, Wisconsin has done a damn good job of filling football seats for years. Long term basketball fans however, know that basketball seats were pretty easy to obtain before Bennett got there.

Up here with four professional teams plus the U, only the hockey teams have that fan "cushion"; though one can always get tickets, they are always sold out.

Just please, until Iowa can "travel" across campus, Iowa fans should acknowledge that they are great fans of football and WINNING teams only. There certainly aren't tens of thousands of real IOWA fans.
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I think by and large the real passionate college sports fans are roughly the same from school to school. They are no better or no worse than any other college. The difference comes in shear volume. There are simply more people passionate about the Iowa Hawkeyes than there are about the Minnesota Golden Gophers. Doesn't mean they are "better" fans, it just means there are more of them. And, much like ALL schools, if a particular team isn't winning, that fanbase doesn't show up as much (remember the Barn circa 2006-07; Metrodome circa just about any game). Much the same way, I don't think a passionate Gopher fan is any better than a passionate Hamline fan. That guy that lives and dies with the Pipers is certainly as good as a Gopher fan. Even if only 250 show up for a Hamline basketball game on a Tuesday night, that doesn't mean the Gopher fans are better. It just means there are just more passionate Gopher fans than Piper fans. But, that passionate Piper fans loves his school every bit as much as a Gopher or Hawkeye fan.
 

What does basketball attendance have to do with how many fans travel to a bowl game? Iowa basketball fans are extremely fair weather. Under Tom Davis, and in the earlier Alford years they routinely had some of the best attendance in the country. Then everyone turned against Alford and got out of the habit of going to games, and the team hasn't given them a reason to start going again.

Football is a much much much bigger deal, and is always well attended. You're comparing apples to oranges.
 

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