OK, In the DFW Metro area

ESPNU’s 11 a.m.-starting Heart of Dallas bowl -- in which the University of North Texas whipped UNLV -- averaged 106,520 viewers. That fell short of ESPN’s daytime LSU-Iowa matchup (205,938 viewers) and ABC’s South Carolina-Wisconsin game (120,722). But UNT-UNLV beat the Nebraska-Georgia bowl game on ESPN2 (63,912 viewers).

http://unclebarky.com/dfw.html

And?

The general Atlanta media barely even mentioned that the Georgia/Nebraska game was taking place. Only the most ultra-intense fans cared or were planning to watch it.

(01-05-2014 01:42 AM)Native Georgian Wrote:  The general Atlanta media barely even mentioned that the Georgia/Nebraska game was taking place. Only the most ultra-intense fans cared or were planning to watch it.

I think the original poster meant it outdrew it only in the Dallas-Ft.Worth area.

The Nebraska-Georgia game set a record for most viewers for an ESPN2 bowl game nationwide (http://jacksonville.com/sports/college/g...94-percent) with around 3 million people, but people in Texas probably don't have a lot of reason to care about it at this point. Actually, I bet a good chunk of that number in Dallas were transplanted Nebraska fans.

Congrats UNT. These are reasonably good TV ratings for UNT and the HOD Bowl. Would have liked to have seen the game day attendance exceed 40K, but --for the most part-- UNT fans their part. Now the HOD Bowl needs to do a much better job of marketing itself locally to a skeptical DFW football fan base. My advice: Invite someone other than a .500 UNLV team as CUSA's opposition next time.

(01-05-2014 10:35 AM)HogDawg Wrote:  Congrats UNT. These are reasonably good TV ratings news for UNT and the HOD Bowl. Would have liked to have seen the game day attendance exceed 40K, but --for the most part-- UNT fans their part. Now the HOD Bowl needs to figure out how to market itself locally to a skeptical football fan base.

Dude, UNLV brought squat to the HOD. They maybe had 2 or 3K at the game, and I'm being kind. North Texas supplied 35 to 36K for the HOD. I think that's really good considering we had to play UNLV, and we were expecting a P5 caliber team. Had we had a BIG 10 opponent, like the bowl was supposed to, we would have set an attendance record for the HOD. I'm sure they can't wait to get North Texas back in the HOD against a BIG 10/12 team. I don't see what more North Texas fans could have done under these circumstances.

(01-05-2014 10:42 AM)Side Show Joe Wrote:  

(01-05-2014 10:35 AM)HogDawg Wrote:  Congrats UNT. These are reasonably good TV ratings news for UNT and the HOD Bowl. Would have liked to have seen the game day attendance exceed 40K, but --for the most part-- UNT fans their part. Now the HOD Bowl needs to figure out how to market itself locally to a skeptical football fan base.

Dude, UNLV brought squat to the HOD. They maybe had 2 or 3K at the game, and I'm being kind. North Texas supplied 35 to 36K for the HOD. I think that's really good considering we had to play UNLV, and we were expecting a P5 caliber team. Had we had a BIG 10 opponent, like the bowl was supposed to, we would have set an attendance record for the HOD. I'm sure they can't wait to get North Texas back in the HOD against a BIG 10/12 team. I don't see what more North Texas fans could have done under these circumstances.

Good grief. How much "stroking" is required for you? I was very complimentary of UNT's game support. As I said, UNT DID THEIR PART!! Can you read?

I was also pretty clear about the fact that INVITING UNLV WAS THE PROBLEM. I lay that responsibility at the feet of the HOD Bowl committee. Local DFW football fans yawned when UNLV was announced as UNT's opponent, and that apathy showed at the game day box office, which relies mostly on walk-ups.

I went to the HOD Bowl. Waited 15 minutes in the walk-up line and that was with the most incompetent game day box office ever (What kind of organization only sells tickets in one section from one window and you have to go to a completely different window to buy tickets in the next section over?).* The game just didn't have a lot of walk-up appeal.

That said, UNT fans were very impressive. They didn't just show up - they were also loud.

UNLV's fan support, offense, defense, etc. all were horrible. They were not a good choice for the HOD Bowl.

*=Edit. I forgot that when I paid by credit card they took all of my information down on a paper slip. They didn't have credit card swiping machines. Seriously.

Imagine that, a team in it's home media area outdrew two teams halfway across the country. Groundbreaking stuff!

I thought that with the size of Dallas and a local team the attendance would have been better but considering you played UNLV I can understand why the Dallas area didn't get excited. You are right with your numbers you should be a very attractive team to the HOD Bowl given a better opponent you should break some records. The goal of the bowls should be get a good area team and match them up against a bigger name school from a good conference. Good luck next year.

(01-05-2014 11:40 AM)CAJUNCOUNTRY Wrote:  I thought that with the size of Dallas and a local team the attendance would have been better but considering you played UNLV I can understand why the Dallas area didn't get excited. You are right with your numbers you should be a very attractive team to the HOD Bowl given a better opponent you should break some records. The goal of the bowls should be get a good area team and match them up against a bigger name school from a good conference. Good luck next year.

Not sure what the HOD was thinking when they invited UNLV. As we all know, Bowl games rely heavily on "out-of-town" fans traveling to the game site and spending money locally for 3 or 4 days. But, with UNT already being local, it should have been economically imperative for the HOD Bowl to invite a school that would travel well to Dallas. UNLV couldn't and didn't do that. Therefore this HOD Bowl game had to be an economic failure for the bowl committee.

What little I saw of the final BBVA Compass Bowl here in Birmingham, there was another strong turnout by both schools. Last year, I was surprised to learn it outdrew the Sugar Bowl. I'm anticipating the next articles to come on bowl attendances in 2014, I've a feeling the HOD Bowl is going to come up looking pretty good in the standings.