Jan. 14, 2011
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Penn State-Florida clash in the 2011 Outback Bowl delivered an impressive television audience, ranking as the fourth-highest rated contest among all 35 bowl games and doubling the audience from last year's game in Tampa.
The ESPN on ABC telecast of the contest between the Nittany Lions and Gators delivered a 7.1 rating, translating into 8.17 million U.S. TV households and 12.445 million viewers, producing the highest rating for a college football game on ABC during the 2010 season
The 2011 Outback Bowl, which kicked at 1:00 p.m. on New Year's Day, earned a higher rating and larger TV audience than two Bowl Championship Series games played in primetime.
The Penn State-Florida contest earned a 103 percent increase over the 4.01 million TV households that watched the 2010 Outback Bowl on ESPN. The Nittany Lions and Gators also produced a TV rating that was 101 percent higher than the 3.5 figure the 2010 Outback Bowl earned.
The BCS National Championship Game (15.3 rating), the Rose Bowl (11.3) and the Allstate Sugar Bowl (8.2) were the only bowl games to earn a higher TV rating than Penn State-Florida in the 2011 Outback Bowl.
Big Ten Conference teams played in three of the four highest rated games during the 2010-11 bowl season.
The Nittany Lions have long been one of college football's premier programs for television networks. Every Nittany Lion game has been televised the past seven seasons and 203 of the last 205 Penn State games overall have been on TV.
During the 2009 season, the Nittany Lions' last victory over LSU in the 2010 Capital One Bowl earned a six percent television ratings increase over the Jan. 1, 2009 contest and was seen on in more than 7.8 million U.S. TV households on ABC.
The Penn State-USC clash in the 2009 Rose Bowl earned an 11.7 rating on ABC, a five percent increase over the 2008 Rose Bowl telecast.
Since starting conference competition in 1993, Penn State has played in seven of the top 15 rated Big Ten football games on ESPN, the most of any Big Ten team (Michigan is next with five). The Nittany Lions have played in six of top 15 highest viewed Big Ten games on ESPN, tied for first among conference squads (with Michigan).
The Nittany Lions are 58-19 (75.3) since the start of the 2005 season, tied with Oregon for the nation's No. 12 winning percentages over the past six years. Penn State has won 60 of its last 79 games overall, dating to the final two contests of the 2004 season.
The Nittany Lions return 16 starters for the 2010 season, (7 offense, 8 defense, 1 specialist), as well as 17 players that have starting experience. Penn State opens its 125th season Sept. 3 vs. Indiana State in Beaver Stadium and Alabama visits Happy Valley on Sept. 10 for the first time since 1989.
Penn State Athletics is on Twitter (http://www.gopsusports.com/ot/twitter.html) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/pennstatenittanylions).