By TONY TAGLAVORE, Journal Sports

Comparatively speaking, last Saturday night’s Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl between Texas Tech and California did not draw much interest from national television viewers.

According to Sports Media Watch, an audience of 1.02 million tuned into ESPN to see the Red Raiders defeat the Golden Bears 34-14. That’s more than one million fewer viewers (2.41) who watched the 2022 game between Houston and Louisiana-Lafayette (ESPN).

This year’s game was the least-watched Independence Bowl since 2016, when 1.27 million viewers tuned into ESPN2 to see Vanderbilt vs. North Carolina State. (The Independence Bowl was not played in 2020.)

“We’ve had higher and lower (viewership) over the 47 years of the bowl,” executive director Missy Setters told the Journal. “So when we look at exposure value each year, we look at a number of factors in addition to the live-game viewership.”

One of those factors is the media attention received by the bowl –TV and radio — in the weeks leading up to, and the days immediately following the game.

“There is a value placed on the exposure every time a story airs in Lubbock or San Francisco, on ESPN, or another bowl game leading up to ours. Those mentions all add up. We received a tremendous amount of coverage leading up to our game because of the Texas Tech- Cal matchup this year.”

Setters cited numbers which indicated between December 11-19, the Independence Bowl received a national/cable ad value of $1,777,505.02.

The Independence Bowl was ranked sixth in viewership among seven bowl games the first week of bowl season. The Independence Bowl finished ahead of the New Mexico Bowl (845,000), and behind the R+L Carriers Bowl (1.09 million).

The LA Bowl between UCLA and Boise State was the most-watched bowl game with 2.38 million viewers.

They all paled in comparison to three NFL games last Saturday. Cincinnati-Minnesota drew 7.5 million, Denver-Detroit (which was on during much of the Independence Bowl) had 9.2 million and the Pittsburgh-Indianapolis game drew 9.8 million.

The Independence Bowl scored a 0.6 rating, which is the percentage of households with televisions in use during the game. It kicked off at 8:20 p.m. and wrapped up at 11:53 p.m., with its network competition shifting from the Denver-Detroit NFL game to Saturday Night Live.

Viewership for the past six Independence Bowls:

2023: 1.02 million (Texas Tech vs. California) (ESPN)

2022: 2.41 million (Houston vs. Louisiana-Lafayette) (ESPN)

2021: 3.22 million (BYU vs. UAB) (ABC)

2020: No Game

2019: 2.77 million (Louisiana Tech vs. Miami) (ESPN)

2018: 2.03 million (Duke vs. Temple) (ESPN)

2017: 2.22 million (Florida St. vs. Southern Mississippi) (ESPN)  

Contact Tony at SBJTonyT@gmail.com