ISLE FILE
Hawai'i Bowl in top 10
Advertiser Staff
The Sheraton Hawai'i Bowl ranked 10th among the 21 pre-New Year's Day bowls in viewership, according to a report released by ESPN.
The University of Hawai'i's 41-24 victory over Arizona State on Christmas Eve was seen by 2.33 million households and an average of 3.5 million viewers, ESPN said.
The number of viewers ranked ahead of even CBS' Sun Bowl, the only non-cable network-shown game in the period.
Pete Derzis, vice president of ESPN Regional Television, which owns and operates the Hawai'i Bowl, said he was, "ecstatic at the numbers."
Western Athletic Conference commissioner Karl Benson termed the figures, "very, very solid."
The Alamo Bowl, which matched Texas and Iowa on Dec. 30, drew the largest audience of the pre-New Year's bowls with 5.5 million households and 7.8 million average viewers, ESPN reported.
The Hawai'i Bowl attracted more households than the Poinsettia, Texas and Insight bowls combined.
