2015 College Football Bowl Game Rundown
Which is your favorite bowl? Rose? Orange? Peach? Hawaiian? Cotton? If you’re a true college football fan you know exactly what I am talking about.
In North America Bowl games are post-season football games that are primarily played by teams belonging to the NCAA’s Division 1 Football Bowl Subdivision. The number of bowl games has grown increasingly every year, climbing to 39 team-competitive games during the 2014–15 season. This increase basically allows every team with a non-losing record to play in a post-season (bowl) game.
Interestingly, the rise in the number of bowl games has not translated into a rise in fan attendance. On game day, fans are increasingly starting to watch more games in the comfort of their own homes rather than at a stadium. This is actually blossoming into a major issue for conferences, schools and venues. On TV, bowl games draw huge audiences compared to other sporting programs. According to Nielsen, only one bowl game year reached fewer than 1.2 million viewers on average last year. Yet per NCAA financial records, school and conferences have struggled to sell their bowl ticket allotments and were required to pay for a record $23.6 million for unsold tickets last year.
College football fans simply are attending games less and less. 2014 saw the lowest attendance for post-season games in 30 years, averaging 48,989 in attendance among all 35 bowls. This may seem like a large number, but it represents a 1% decrease from a year ago and a steady 4-year drop from 52,961 during the 2009–10 season, according to an analysis by AL.com of reported games.
Maybe 2015 is the year things turn around?! Bowl games invigorate already-fanatical college students, alumni and local fans alike. So whether you’re heading to the game this year or parking it on your couch and a coffee table picnic, we here at Hungry Fan will have you ready for game day! Stay tuned for great recipes, recommendations, tips & tricks, etc.
And in the meantime, below is the schedule for each and every post-season bowl game!
