Not many people watched the Rose Bowl this year

The Rose Bowl posted a historically low overnight rating despite having two of the nation’s top college football teams face off.

It’s been a rough year for the bowl games on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. The decline in television ratings won’t be because of lack of good teams in them, but rather that the games ended in blow out fashion.

In fact, the 2016 Rose Bowl overnight rating will go down as the lowest on record.

Stanford and Iowa looked like a good battle on paper. Both teams faced hiccups during the year that kept them out of the College Football Playoff, but still had much to play for at the Rose Bowl. It was supposed to be a marquee game to watch on New Year’s Day. However, Stanford came out on all cylinders and Iowa just laid over and died for most of the game.

David Shaw yet again proved his naysayers wrong and produced another PAC-12 side that won a championship and a top bowl game. His stock to head to the NFL is soaring, but Rose Bowl organizers will be left scratching their heads with the lowest overnight rating on record.

While the viewership numbers could turn out not to be a record low, it still doesn’t look well. The Rose Bowl is set up to succeed from a ratings point of view, but that requires the game being played to be close for most of the game. Fans tune out of blowouts fast, while more fans would tune in later in the game if the game is close down the stretch or heads into overtime.

Just like Iowa, the Rose Bowl overnight ratings is a sign of failure. Hopefully the 2017 Rose Bowl won’t be a blow out like 2016. It’s unfortunate for the Rose Bowl as it is played at a decent time slot unlike the first of two College Football Playoff games on New Year’s Eve.