Bowl Season 2022-23 Annual Report

2022-23 ANNUAL REPORT A Celebration of College Football

CONTENTS

2

Letter from the Executive Director

3

Vision, Mission, Game Plan and Executive Committee

4

By the Numbers

7

Community Impact

8

Public Relations

10

Social Media

12

Corporate Partnerships

13

Official Newsletter

14

Website and Gameday Live

15

Promotions – Game Notes and Bowl Season Radio

16

Bowl Season Stories Podcast

18

Bowl Bound Program

20

Television Viewership

22

The Bowls

24

Annual Meeting

Executive Editor Nick Carparelli Production and Editing Tony Fay Public Relations Design Cathy Hutzler Editorial Assistance Thomas Caracciolo

LETTER FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Celebrating Tradition

O

ne of the greatest and longest running traditions in our country, Bowl Season continues to hold an important place on the sports calendar.

It promotes the game of college football by providing meaningful experiences and life-long memories for players, coaches, fans, universities and communities across the country. I continue to be honored and privileged to promote the bowl system, and to share the stories that make Bowl Season so unique.

There have never been as many major changes occurring in intercollegiate athletics at one time as there are right now. The new NIL environment, the heavily populated transfer portal, and conference realignment have combined to create a challenging landscape for football coaches and their programs.

Despite having to adjust, bowl games continue to provide the same unique and meaningful experience for the student-athletes as they have for over 100 years.

As always, everything we do is intended to bring value to the Bowl Season membership by promoting the entire bowl system as well as the game of college football. Last year we were able to build momentum around several of our recently created initiatives. The Bowl Season Stories podcast featured some fantastic guests, fueling a steady increase in overall audience, while our social media campaigns earned more views than we’ve ever had.

The Bowl Bound shirt program also grew in popularity, bringing sustainability to the celebration around student-athletes and their teams earning bowl eligibility.

The Bowl Season brand continues to grow and develop, as have our relationships with new and current corporate partners; all of which has led to some exciting new business opportunities which we continue to foster. Our focus remains squarely on the future growth of Bowl Season, both promotionally and operationally.

We continue to maintain a high level of communication with the leaders of college football.

Bowl Season has an important role to play in the expansion to a 12-team College Football Playoff in 2024. It is important to us all that we continue to work collaboratively with the commissioners of the 10 FBS conferences to ensure that Bowl Season remains a meaningful component of the college football season,

2

BOWL SEASON

2022-23 ANNUAL REPORT

both within an expanded playoff and for the majority of teams who will benefit from the bowl game experience to close out a successful season.

Our television viewership continues to thrive. This past year the 40 non-CFP bowl games averaged over three million people per telecast; 30 games had more than two million viewers, 14 had more than three million, 10 had more than four million and nine games had more than five million. That outrates any alternative sports television programming (other than the NFL) during December and January. In addition, more than 1.5 million people attended bowl games live in person.

The foundation of Bowl Season remains - providing unique opportunities for all involved, whether that’s leaving a legacy with a program-changing victory, seeing rare high-profile matchups, catching the emergence of next year’s new stars, or honoring goodbyes to some college football heroes. While many programs plan on a bowl trip almost every season, the opportunity to simply compete in a bowl game is a thrill for many others.

Thank you to everyone who helps make our bowl games happen. It is all due to the tireless efforts of the bowl organizations and their conference partners who recognize how meaningful bowl games are to our membership.

Bowl Season is truly an annual celebration of college football, and we look forward to celebrating this great game for many years to come.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONTINUED SUPPORT!

Nick Carparelli Executive Director, Bowl Season

VISION

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

Bowl Season is an annual celebration of college football.

MISSION Bowl Season promotes the game of college football by providing meaningful experiences and life-long memories for players, coaches, fans, universities and communities across the country.

Jeff Hundley

Steve Beck

CHAIR Allstate Sugar Bowl

VICE CHAIR Military Bowl presented by Peraton

John Saccenti

Danny Morrison

Derrick Fox

Mark Neville

GAME PLAN Bowl Season – The Association

Bowl Season serves as the collective association of every college football bowl game. This organization serves its membership by focusing on: • Communication and advocacy with the stakeholders in college football.

TREASURER SRS Distribution Las Vegas Bowl

SECRETARY Duke's Mayo Bowl

• Creating operational efficiencies by expanding business relationships, forming strategic partnerships and enhancing professional development opportunities.

• Revenue generation through corporate partnerships and the creation & development of new assets.

Bowl Season – The Time of Year Bowl Season is a time of year when American sports fans celebrate the game of college football. Beginning in mid-December and running through early January, we use this

AT-LARGE REPRESENTATIVE Valero Alamo Bowl

PAST CHAIR San Diego County Credit Union Holiday Bowl

Missy Setters

David Fletcher

platform to: • Communicate how meaningful bowl games are to everyone involved by acting as the leading voice for college football’s postseason.

• Market the games and sport to the millions of fans who love college football through strategic and creative initiatives.

• Promote the value that bowl games provide to the sport, its stakeholders, participants and host communities.

PAST CHAIR Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl

2022-23 ANNUAL REPORT

PAST CHAIR TaxAct Texas Bowl

BOWL SEASON

3

BY THE NUMBERS

2022-23 Bowl Season

43 10K+ 1.56M 179M Experienced by:

Bowl Games

THE MOST IN ANY ONE SEASON

84

STUDENT-ATHLETES PARTICPATED

that The number of teams ason — the Se wl Bo in participated ason making most in any one se celebration of this year the biggest r! college football eve

FANS IN ATTENDANCE

36 18

TELEVISION VIEWERS

The number of states represented by teams in this year’s bowl games.

The total number of states hosting bowl games.

Sam

HARTMAN

110 4

BOWL SEASON

2022-23 ANNUAL REPORT

ACC career record touchdown passes for Wake Forest QB Sam Hartman, the last 3 coming in the Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl.

544

The total yards passing for Kansas QB Jalon Daniels, a AutoZone Liberty Bowl record.

He also set the AutoZone Liberty Bowl record for completions (27), TDs (5) and TDs scored (6).

3.54K

1

The number of television viewers for the Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl.

The most viewers to watch any television program on any network on Friday, December 23, 2022.

78

The the number of different universities hosted by the Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl in their 86-year history.

The most of any bowl game ever.

4,744 40 AND

The number of yards and touchdowns, respectively, that Western Kentucky’s Austin Reed passed for on the season (leading the nation).

He got to those final totals by passing for 497 yards and four touchdowns in the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl (both records for that game).

4

The number of active bowl games played in Major League Baseball stadiums Pinstripe Bowl (Yankee Stadium), the Holiday Bowl (Petco Park), Fenway Bowl (Fenway Park), and Guaranteed Rate Bowl (Chase Field)

$

375M

Total payouts from the non-CFP bowl games to the participating conferences and institutions this past year.

2022-23 ANNUAL REPORT

BOWL SEASON

5

BY THE NUMBERS

9

329

The number of consecutive games won by Fresno State in 2022, capped off with a 29-6 victory in the 2022 Jimmy Kimmel LA Bowl Presented by Stifel. The Bulldogs became the first team to ever start 1-4 and finish with 10 wins.

The number of rushing yards for Southern Miss running back Frank Gore, Jr. in this year’s LendingTree Bowl, an all-time Bowl Season record.

Frank

GORE JR.

3

2022-23 Final Standings Progressive Bowl Challenge Cup | Created by

The Mid-American Conference (the MAC) won the 2022-23 Progressive Bowl Challenge Cup, posting a winning WINNER ! percentage of .667 with a 4-2 record during Bowl Season. Created in 2002 by ESPN 4-2 Reco as a competition rd among the 10 FBS conferences during college football’s postseason, the MAC won its first outright title. Previously the MAC tied for the top honor in 2011-12 with Conference USA.

6

BOWL SEASON

CONF. (Bowl Teams) RECORD WINNING % MAC (6)

4-2

.667

SEC (11)

7-5

.583

American (7)

4-3

.571

ACC (9)

5-4

.556

Big Ten (9)

5-4

.555

Conference USA (6)

3-3

.500

Mountain West (7)

3-4

.429

Pac-12 (7)

3-4

.429

Sun Belt (7)

3-4

.429

Big 12 (8)

2-7

.222

2022-23 ANNUAL REPORT

COMMUNITY IMPACT

B

owls have a tradition of giving back to their communities, with hundreds of millions of dollars going to worthy charities and causes over the years.

Extra Yard for Teachers is Bowl Season’s designated community initiative. The College Football Playoff (CFP) Foundation’s primary cause platform, Extra Yard for Teachers is dedicated to elevating the teaching profession by inspiring and empowering teachers.

For the second consecutive year, every bowl game came together to honor local teachers in each respective market as part of the Big Day for Teachers on Sept.

20, 2022. Part of Extra Yard for Teachers Week, The Big Day is a designated day where the college football community celebrates educators.

Each bowl game was provided with a $1,000 DonorsChoose gift card through Extra Yard for Teachers to present to a local teacher on The Big Day, with encouragement to do anything additional to celebrate them.

The partnership includes the opportunity to participate in an Extra Yard for Teachers grant-matching program for teachers during Bowl Season. Available to all bowl games, it has the potential to bring $500,000 in additional support to teachers nationwide.

ALL-IN: For the second consecutive year, every bowl game celebrated teachers as part of Extra Yard for Teachers' Big Day in September.

2022-23 ANNUAL REPORT

BOWL SEASON

7

PUBLIC RELATIONS

B

owl Season was a topic of conversation as a mainstay tradition amid a myriad of changes that college football is going through (College Football Playoff expansion, NIL, etc.). Bowl Season’s role in the business of sports was a consistent topic. Bowl Season’s total earned media results for the year included a reach of 1.28B for a total value of $2.51M (through January 31, 2023).

COAST TO COAST: Nationally and regionally, Bowl Season received coverage throughout college football season.

BOWL SEASON

was part of Traditio nal Coverag e as the season re ached it s crescen d o.

STORYLINES: No matter the time of year, Bowl Season remains a huge part of college football.

8

BOWL SEASON

2022-23 ANNUAL REPORT

NEWS WORTHY: Maintream, business or sports media, Bowl Season is part of the discussion.

2022-23 ANNUAL REPORT

BOWL SEASON

9

SOCIAL MEDIA CAMPAIGNS

@BowlSeason

Trends & Growth Followers

Twitter + Instagram + Facebook

Twitter Impressions Instagram Reach

Facebook Reach

10

BOWL SEASON

2020

2021

2022

7K 1.3M 10.4K 40.2K

18.6K 9.4M 95.3K 34.6K

25K 6.9M 705.2K 185.4K

2022-23 ANNUAL REPORT

2022-23 ANNUAL REPORT

BOWL SEASON

11

CORPORATE PARTNERSHIPS

Thank You

PARTNERS FOR YOUR TREMENDOUS SUPPORT IN HELPING US TELL THE BOWL SEASON STORY

12

BOWL SEASON

2022-23 ANNUAL REPORT

OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER

Bowl Season’s KICKOFF e-newsletter completed its third season in 2022-23, continuing to celebrate college football and our unique postseason. Our distribution base saw substantial growth, now with more than 17,000 subscribers through proactive efforts and signups. We’d like to give special recognition to Kevin McNamara, who did a great job as our lead writer for content and coverage.

BOWL SEASON OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER

BOWL SEASON OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER

BOWL SEASON OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER

BOWL SEASON OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER

SEPTEMBER 2022

NOVEMBER 2022

DECEMBER 2022

JANUARY 2023

CONSISTENTLY RELIABLE I

Changes Abound, Bowl Season Remains a Constant in College Football

Bowl Bound Shirts — Celebrating Bowl Eligibility While Taking Care of the Environment

By KEVIN McNAMARA

By KEVIN McNAMARA

t’s not easy being a college football fan these days.

You wake up one morning and discover that

your conference rival is pulling up stakes and

waving goodbye. The next week you learn that the College Football Playoff (CFP) is considering quadrupling in size and that entering the transfer portal.

At the same time, a different set of fans are excitedly rallying around

State U. with their family pharmacy chain. Or maybe

probably the first 25.

That’s prompted great discussions and dialogue.”

happily welcoming a new

JAMES FRANKLIN, PENN STATE COACH

quarterback via the beforeThis is college football in 2022. Fans, school leaders, coaches and student-athletes all adjusting

only on the backs of the Orange players but allaround Central New York. eligible, Jay Hertwig owned a smile as

That’s when the bands

For the first time in four

of Commercialization for Unifi

start to play, the stadiums

seasons, he knew his Orange

Manufacturing, a Greenboro, N.C. textile

fill, the student-athletes

were headed for Bowl Season.

production company that’s part of a

the playoff. As a fan of college football, we need a great

has come to an agreement that change is on

system to crown a deserving national champion,”

the way regarding the College Football Playoff. Bowl

Carparelli said. “But I think Bowl Season is equally

Season is ready for that change and looks forward to

important. Bowl Season, in its entirety, impacts more

college football.

As the timehonored, end-of-season

unique partnership along with Vapor

celebration of college

that are still out there but

Elemental Wear that’s producing

football, Bowl Season is ready to adapt to

there’s one goal that’s been

the new, ‘Bowl Bound’ performance

more changes occurring

checked,” Babers said. “It’s

shirts. Unifi, the makers of

in college athletics now

going to be interesting to see

REPREVE® — a sustainable

from four to 12 teams,

than ever before and I

where this family can go as

fiber composed of recycled

according to Executive

don’t think that’s going

we move down the road.”

“There seems to be

to change anytime soon,”

Director Nick Carparelli.

changing the game with

He communicates

Syracuse’s first 6-0 start since

Vapor, the official partner

regularly with not only his

1987, the players received

football season. It will certainly evolve as well. But sports fans will always be able to look forward to BOWL SEASON | September 2022

for Bowl Season’s apparel campaign which focuses on both elite performance and sustainability.

that all college football players

prominently at the conclusion of every college

to massive changes. Some are welcome, while others can cause some challenges.

crave: a Bowl Bound shirt. Syracuse’s hot start has

“Who can’t get excited about college football?,”

captivated the program’s fans and Bowl Season’s

Hertwig hypothetically pondered. “Football is king and

1

BOWL SEASON | November 2022

September 2022

the growth of the CFP

plastic water bottles, is

To help commemorate

what’s become the memento

“The College Football Playoff is expanding and I love

some difficult, the college football world

their continued impact on

well. Hertwig the Senior Vice President

“There’s a lot of goals

do their thing, and the sport shines.

the executive director of Bowl Season. “But while

Open Rate

As the Orange celebrated becoming bowl

excitement.

these things evolve, Bowl Season continues to sit

56%

fter years of negotiations, some collegial and

again every September.

said Nick Carparelli,

mentioned transfer portal.

A

‘Bowl Bound’ shirts quickly became a hot item not

after a convincing win over 15th ranked

Syracuse coach couldn’t hide his

Bowl Season and the CFP Hold Equal Importance in College Football’s Postseason

MEMORIES TO LAST A LIFETIME Bowl Season Once Again Proves to be a Tradition Like No Other

By KEVIN McNAMARA

By KEVIN McNAMARA

the start of his post-game press conference

North Carolina State in mid-October, the

The good thing is that, thankfully, the games begin

over the last three years than

likeness (NIL) deal pairing the star running back at Old

s Dino Babers walked to the microphone for

prompted great discussions and dialogue.”

changes in college football

a new name, image and

A

“There has been more changes in college football over the last three years than probably the first 25,” said Penn State coach James Franklin. “That’s

“ There has been more

half your offensive line is

TRADITION NEVER DIES

MILESTONE THREADS

he Troy Trojans will certainly remember the Duluth Trading Cure Bowl for a very long

“To hold those guys to 12 points, I don't know what to say,” Sumrall said. “We stayed together all year,

time.

and I could not be more

Matched up against

proud. I just hope they

nationally-ranked Texas-

keep us in the Top 25."

student-athletes and

San Antonio, the Trojans

“ Bowl Season, in its entirety,

football programs than

traveled to Orlando’s

impacts more student-athletes

the CFP alone, and that’s

Exploria Stadium chasing

Press voters rewarded

why its importance will

a bucket-load of history.

the Trojans with the 19th

Don’t worry about that, coach. The Associated

and football programs than

remain vital to the sport.”

A win would extend a

spot in their final poll, just

the CFP alone, and that’s why

While CFP leaders

fabulous winning streak

behind Notre Dame and

debated the growth of the

to 11 games, tie the

playoff beyond four teams,

program’s record of 12

many fans, media and

victories in a season and

vital to the sport.”

administrators who love

secure the team’s fifth

– NICK CARPARELLI

the sport wondered if that

consecutive Bowl Season

growth would negatively

victory.

its importance will remain

Bowl Season Executive Director

executive committee of bowl leaders, but also other

of bowl games. Asked his opinion, Carparelli quickly answered, “We don’t think that the incremental

some parts of the bowl system will be changing,

increase is going to affect Bowl Season at all.”

others will continue building on their legacy of

The particulars of a 12-team playoff are still under

providing cherished end-of-season memories.

negotiation. Some first round games may be played BOWL SEASON | December 2022

ahead of programs like

“ We stayed together all year, and I could not be more proud.

I just hope they keep us in

Who says bowl games

impact a wide swath

power brokers in the sport. He’s convinced that while

1

November 2022

T

don’t matter?

After leaving with

UCLA and South Carolina.

Pretty heady stuff.

Stories like Troy’s unfolded throughout Bowl Season. The

the Top 25.”

opportunity to leave

– JON SUMRALL

a program-changing

Troy Head Coach

a hard-fought 18-12

a legacy behind with victory is just one benefit

win, Troy coach Jon Sumrall knew his team had

bowl games offer. Seeing high-profile matchups,

cemented itself into Troy football history.

catching the emergence of next year’s new stars and

1

BOWL SEASON | January 2023

December 2022

January 2023

BOWL PREVIEW

SEASON WRAP-UP

41%

43%

40% Open Rate

Open Rate

1

Open Rate

40.5%

AVERAGE OPEN RATE (Last year open rate: 35.75%; industry average is 25%)

SUBSCRIBE AT BOWLSEASON.COM

2022-23 ANNUAL REPORT

BOWL SEASON

13

WEBSITE

BowlSeason.com

T

he overall re-brand of Bowl Season in 2020 included revamping the organization’s website, enhancing and improving its features while making it more fanfriendly. The efforts have produced significant growth.

OV ER AL L GR OW TH YEAR

PAGEVIEWS

GROWTH

2019

38,950

24 .84%

2020

56,852

45.96%

2021

299,497

426.80%

2022

2,536,637

746.97%

GAMEDAY LIVE Bowl Season Gameday Live continued its success in its second year with 104,488 total pageviews throughout Bowl Season.

The best way to follow all the bowl games, fans could access live coverage of each and every bowl game from the Gameday Live landing page, which included live TV broadcasts, radio and real-time stats.

14

BOWL SEASON

2022-23 ANNUAL REPORT

PROMOTIONS

GAME NOTES Bowl Season has produced a daily set of game notes for national and local media covering the bowl games for the last three years. Bowl Season worked with each bowl game’s communications staff, as well as the respective SIDs of daily participating teams as part of the distribution.

The notes kept track of records and top performances, as well as interesting anecdotes and talking points to help media in their coverage of Bowl Season.

Bowl Season and First Team Ventures joined together again with Bowl Season Radio, providing exclusive live national radio/audio play-by-play coverage for 18 college bowl games.

nd alftime a Studio h d re tu fea in-game s e m a g l w other bo and s w ie rv with inte ts. highligh

TOTAL REACH MORE THAN

34M

ALL GAMES AIRED ON SIRIUS XM

Also streamed live on The Varsity Network, Tune-In and Audacy apps, as well as BowlSeason.com.

Top Markets Bowl Season Radio aired on terrestrial radio stations coast-to-coast including Baltimore, Boston, Dallas, Detroit, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Atlanta, Tampa, Jacksonville, Portland, Birmingham and Honolulu.

2022-23 ANNUAL REPORT

BOWL SEASON

15

BOWL SEASON STORIES PODCAST

B

owl Season Stories — the official podcast of Bowl Season — completed a second successful season in 2022-23. The Bowl Season Stories podcast continues to feature the top names in college football — from all-time greats to current analysts, broadcasters and bowl executives — talking about the storylines, trends and traditions that make Bowl Season and the games so special.

Produced by Tony Fay Public Relations, fans can find and subscribe to Bowl Season Stories via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or download episodes on BowlSeason.com. The podcast will return for the 2023 college football season.

CUMULATIVE LISTENS OVER LAST TWO YEARS 2021-22 SEASON

42.4K

TOTAL LISTENERS (21 episodes)

2022-23 SEASON

D AN MISSE DE? EPISOAll the

Catch s on pisode Past E .com eason BowlS

22.7K

TOTAL LISTENERS (20 episodes)

TOTAL

65.1K

LISTENERS (41 episodes)

16

BOWL SEASON

2022-23 ANNUAL REPORT

1.6K

Avg. P Episo er de

2022-23 FEATURED GUESTS

Jamal Anderson

Bill Belichick

Deion Branch

Thaddeus Bullard

Callie Bundy

Amanda Christovich

Dave Clawson

Ross Dellenger

P.J. Fleck

Pat Forde

Matt Fortuna

Stephon Gilmore

Frank Gore, Jr.

Scott Hanson

Jacob Hester

Rachel Lindsay

EJ Manuel

Ryan McGee

Molly McGrath

Joey McGuire

Don McPherson

Brady Quinn

Ben Skowronek

Kordell Stewart

Charlie Ward

Kym Adair • Nick Akrap • Dan Barrett • Steve Beck • Lynn Boggs Jackson Burnett • David Eads • Steve Ehrhart • Billy Ferrante Nick Florence • Jason Gannon • Daryl Garvin • Jay Hertwig Laine Higgins • Steve Hogan • Mark Holtzman • Jeff Hundley Shehan Jeyarajah • Sean Johnson • Blake Lawrence • Greg McGarity Mark Meadows • Brad Michaels • Lea Miller-Tooley • Doug Mosley Greg Nortman • Pat Ryan • David Saphirstein • Jeff Siembieda Jerry Silverstein • Tre Stallings • Rob Steeger • Gary Stokan Jean-Jacques Taylor • Johnny Williams

Roy Williams

LISTEN AT BOWLSEASON.COM 2022-23 ANNUAL REPORT

BOWL SEASON

17

BOWL BOUND PROGRAM

C

ontinuing a tradition that started last year, Bowl Season is working with athletic directors and coaches to celebrate teams becoming bowl eligible with the Bowl Bound shirt program. Once a team has achieved its sixth win, it receives what’s become the memento that all college football players crave: Bowl Bound shirts.

Unifi Manufacturing is part of a unique partnership along with Vapor Apparel that produced the new Bowl Bound shirts. Unifi, the makers of REPREVE — a sustainable fiber composed of recycled plastic water bottles, is changing the game with Vapor, the official partner for Bowl Season’s apparel campaign which focuses on both elite performance and sustainability.

The Bowl Bound shirts first appeared in 2021, and Bowl Season saw an opportunity to elevate the overall campaign and shine a light on sustainability in the environment at the same time. REPREVE sustainable fiber is shipped to Vapor, where it creates the activewear for all bowl-bound teams with performance shirts, hoodies and quarter-zips. Each shirt is made out of 16 recycled water bottles.

The success of the Bowl Bound shirt program in 2022 was a rallying point for all the bowls, but it’s amazing to see how the players and coaches have embraced the product.

18

BOWL SEASON

2022-23 ANNUAL REPORT

PUNCHING THEIR TICKET: UCF became bowl eligible with its sixth win on Oct. 29 vs. Cincinnati.

2022-23 ANNUAL REPORT

BOWL SEASON

19

TELEVISION VIEWERSHIP

Viewership is Strong

T

he average bowl game on ESPN had 13 percent more viewers than the average regular season game on the network. Compared to other sports, bowls also brought in a higher average than regular season NBA, MLB and NHL averages on ESPN last season.

2022-23 CFP Semifinals The Vrbo Fiesta Bowl and Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl on ESPN were the most-watched non-New Year’s Day Semifinals of the CFP era with 22.1M viewers.

Max

DUGGAN

• The bowls were the two most-viewed individual Semifinals since 2017-18 and rank as the fourth and fifth best, respectively.

• Both games are among the top-five non-NFL telecasts on broadcast or cable since the start of 2022, and reached more than 42M total viewers between them, 11 percent year-over-year growth.

• The Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl secured 22.4M viewers, the mostwatched primetime CFP Semifinal since Year 1 and a top-20 cable telecast of all-time.

• The Vrbo Fiesta Bowl scored 21.7M viewers the third-most watched afternoon CFP Semifinal of the CFP era.

20

BOWL SEASON

2022-23 ANNUAL REPORT

Adonai

MITCHELL

MOST-WATCHED NON-CFP BOWLS THE 40 NON-CFP BOWL GAMES AVERAGED 3.03M VIEWERS ACROSS

Seven bowl games posted their best audiences in at least five years, while eight games had their best audience in at least four years.

1

2

3

4

5

10.19M

9.14M

8.69M

5.77M

5.4M

Jan. 2 ESPN

Dec. 31 ESPN

Dec. 30 ESPN

Dec. 30 ESPN

Dec. 29 ESPN

6

7

8

9

10

4.78M

4.17M

3.97M

3.91M

3.54M

Dec. 29 ESPN

Jan. 2 ESPN

Dec. 28 FOX

Dec. 28 ESPN

Dec. 23 ESPN

11

12

13

14

15

VIEWERS

VIEWERS

3.33M

VIEWERS

VIEWERS

VIEWERS

VIEWERS

VIEWERS

VIEWERS

VIEWERS

VIEWERS

VIEWERS

VIEWERS

3M

2.76M

2.75M

2.68M

Jan. 2 ABC

Dec. 31 ABC

Dec. 30 CBS

Dec. 29 ESPN

Dec. 30 ESPN

VIEWERS

VIEWERS

2022-23 ANNUAL REPORT

VIEWERS

BOWL SEASON

21

THE BOWLS

BOWL SEASON GAME

2022-23 RESULT

ATTENDANCE

TV VIEWERS

ALLSTATE SUGAR BOWL

Alabama 45, Kansas State 20

60,437

9,135,090

AUTOZONE LIBERTY BOWL

Arkansas 55, Kansas 53 (OT)

52,847

3,914,464

BAD BOY MOWERS PINSTRIPE BOWL

Minnesota 28, Syracuse 20

31,131

2,749,248

BARSTOOL SPORTS ARIZONA BOWL

Ohio 30, Wyoming 27 (OT)

27,691

994,000*

CAMELLIA BOWL

Buffalo 23, Georgia Southern 21

15,322

1,546,589

CAPITAL ONE ORANGE BOWL

Tennessee 31, Clemson 14

63,912

8,689,035

CHEEZ-IT BOWL

Florida State 35, Oklahoma 32

61,520

5,395,713

CHEEZ-IT CITRUS BOWL

LSU 63, Purdue 7

42,791

3,327,236

CHICK-FIL-A PEACH BOWL

Georgia 42, Ohio State 41

79,330

22,447,366

CFP NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP PRESENTED BY AT&T

Georgia 65, TCU 7

72,628

17,223,647

CRICKET CELEBRATION BOWL

North Carolina Central 41, Jackson State 34 (OT)

49,670

2,422,440

DUKE'S MAYO BOWL

Maryland 16, NC State 12

37,228

2,675,714

DULUTH TRADING CURE BOWL

Troy 18, UTSA 12

11,911

1,459,050

EASYPOST HAWAI'I BOWL

Middle Tennessee State 25, San Diego State 23

6,605

1,123,708

FAMOUS IDAHO POTATO BOWL

Eastern Michigan 41, San Jose State 27

10,122

1,105,790

FRISCO BOWL

Boise State 35, North Texas 32

12,211

1,030,241

GOODYEAR COTTON BOWL CLASSIC

Tulane 46, USC 45

55,329

4,165,109

GUARANTEED RATE BOWL

Wisconsin 24, Oklahoma State 17

23,187

2,555,898

HOMETOWN LENDERS BAHAMAS BOWL

UAB 24, Miami (Ohio) 20

12,172

822,304

JIMMY KIMMEL LA BOWL PRESENTED BY STIFEL

Fresno State 29, Washington State 6

32,405

2,399,357

LENDINGTREE BOWL

Southern Miss 38, Rice 24

20,512

1,221,072

LOCKHEED MARTIN ARMED FORCES BOWL

Air Force 30, Baylor 15

43,875

1,984,755 *streaming views

22

BOWL SEASON

2022-23 ANNUAL REPORT

BOWL SEASON GAME

2022-23 RESULT

ATTENDANCE

TV VIEWERS

MILITARY BOWL PRESENTED BY PERATON

Duke 30, UCF 13

17,974

2,161,758

MYRTLE BEACH BOWL

Marshall 28, UConn 14

12,023

920,976

NEW MEXICO BOWL

BYU 24, SMU 23

22,209

2,039,222

QUICK LANE BOWL

New Mexico State 24, Bowling Green 19

22,987

2,322,194

R+L CARRIERS NEW ORLEANS BOWL

Western Kentucky 44, South Alabama 23

13,456

1,196,094

RADIANCE TECHNOLOGIES INDEPENDENCE BOWL

Houston 23, Louisiana 16

23,410

2,407,494

RELIAQUEST BOWL

Mississippi State 19, Illinois 10

35,797

2,182,183

ROOFCLAIM.COM BOCA RATON BOWL

Toledo 21, Liberty 19

20,622

1,467,963

ROSE BOWL GAME PRESENTED BY PRUDENTIAL

Penn State 35, Utah 21

94,873

10,186,954

SAN DIEGO COUNTY CREDIT UNION HOLIDAY BOWL

Oregon 28, North Carolina 27

36,242

3,969,000

SERVPRO FIRST RESPONDER BOWL

Memphis 38, Utah State 10

10,343

2,201,092

SRS DISTRIBUTION LAS VEGAS BOWL

Oregon State 30, Florida 3

29,750

2,449,911

TAXACT TEXAS BOWL

Texas Tech 42, Ole Miss 25

53,251

2,601,130

TAXSLAYER GATOR BOWL

Notre Dame 45, South Carolina 38

67,383

5,765,645

TICKETSMARTER BIRMINGHAM BOWL

East Carolina 53, Coastal Carolina 29

15,901

2,620,162

TONY THE TIGER SUN BOWL

Pittsburgh 37, UCLA 35

41,104

2,760,000

TRANSPERFECT MUSIC CITY BOWL

Iowa 21, Kentucky 0

62,730

2,995,747

UNION HOME MORTGAGE GASPARILLA BOWL

Wake Forest 27, Missouri 17

34,370

3,539,296

VALERO ALAMO BOWL

Washington 27, Texas 20

36,582

4,778,601

VRBO FIESTA BOWL

TCU 51, Michigan 45

71,723

21,701,010

WASABI FENWAY BOWL

Louisville 24, Cincinnati 7

15,000

1,960,629

2022-23 ANNUAL REPORT

BOWL SEASON

23

ANNUAL MEETING

T

he 2022 Bowl Season Annual Meeting was held at the Hyatt Regency Orlando last April.

The only time and place that the entire bowl industry comes together each year, every bowl game had representatives on hand, along with conference office staff, television executives, corporate partners and vendors, and everyone who does business with bowl games.

ROLLING OUT THE RED CARPET: Florida Citrus Sports were fantastic hosts of the 2022 Bowl Season Annual Meeting in Orlando.

The 2023 Annual Meeting is in April in Nashville, Tenn., while the 2024 event is scheduled for El Paso, Texas.

24

BOWL SEASON

2022-23 ANNUAL REPORT

BOWLSEASON.COM @BOWLSEASON