TV Ratings & Bowl Games Show Passion for College Football in 2007

ABC, ESPN, CBS and FOX report strong viewership

DALLAS, Jan. 24, 2008 - The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame (NFF) highlighted today that 2007 season, a year filled with thrilling upsets and record-setting performances, produced top-notch television ratings and concluded with another bowl season enjoyed by millions of fans across the country.

"The numbers show that the interest in college football continues to grow and that the sport is truly America's passion," said NFF President & CEO Steve Hatchell. "We applaud the bowl games and the broadcasting industry for their efforts and creativity in promoting the great game of college football and making it accessible to millions of viewers and fans during the season.

It was a really impressive year, a year of unprecedented upsets and an exciting one to watch.

"The 2007-08 bowl season, with 64 teams participating in a slate of 32 bowl games, established new high water marks in viewership and fan attendance, building on a season that saw ESPN on ABC Sports, CBS Sports, Fox Sports, NBC Sports, CSTV, Versus, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN Classic, Fox Sports Net, the Big Ten Network, and the NFL Network all capitalize on college football's ever increasing popularity.

The commitment of every major network and many of the premier cable channels continues to take the sport of college football to new heights in terms of support and interest.With more than 1.7 million combined fans attending a bowl game and close to another combined 129 million households tuning in to watch the bowl games on television, bowl payouts ran an estimated $225 million in 2007-08 and have totaled $1.6 billion over the last nine seasons.

Over the next ten years, bowls are projected to pay $2.4 billion to the teams and conferences in the Football Bowl Subdivision who participate.

Regular Season Ratings: Highlighted by its relationship with the SEC, CBS posted an average national household rating/share for the season of 3.5/8, up 13% from a 3.1/7 last year.

The 2007 season marked CBS' best year since a 3.7/10 rating/share in 1999.

ESPN also posted impressive viewership with its third most-viewed season ever, averaging 2,013,687 households per game, and ESPN2 recorded its most-viewed season ever with 1,027,368 households per game.

ESPN on ABC averaged 4,364,148 households per game with two games landing in the top 10 audiences ever: the Nov. 24 Missouri-Kansas game with 10,960,755 viewers (ranking 7th all-time) and the Dec. 1 Oklahoma- Missouri game with 10,841,849 (ranking 9th all-time).

The Versus network saw a 50 percent increase in national household rankings and a 92 percent increase in total viewership.Bowl Attendance and Ticket SalesFinal attendance for all bowls in '07-08 was 1,733,499 for a game average of 54,172.

Of the 64 teams competing, 28 sold out their allotment of tickets, 11 bowls sported record attendance figures, eight postseason games drew 65,000-plus fans, and eight bowls were proclaimed sellouts within 24 hours of their matchup announcements.

The Allstate BCS National Championship Game produced the largest crowd (79,651) ever in Louisiana Superdome history with the venue playing host to three bowl tussles (for the first time in city history) from Dec. 21, 2007-Jan. 7, 2008. Allstate Sugar Bowl CEO Paul Hoolahan and his staff pulled off the staging of two of those games with aplomb and panache, winning universal praise from the fans and the media alike while the Greater New Orleans Sports Foundation hosted the The R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl, posting high water marks as most-viewed New Orleans Bowl dating back to 2001.

The Allstate BCS National Championship Game also became the top- selling event in StubHub's history, surpassing last year's Super Bowl and the Tostitos BCS National Championship game.

The Capital One Bowl in Orlando drew 69,748 fans, selling out within 13 hours. Organizers had to add 4,000 extra bleacher seats to accommodate the overflow crowds. En route to producing its quickest sellout ever, The Valero Alamo Bowl attracted its largest crowd in history with 66,166 fans in attendance.

The Tostitos Fiesta Bowl continued its record of 23 sellouts in the last 24 games while the FedEx Orange Bowl sold out for the eighth consecutive year. The Chick-fil-A Bowl sold out for the 11th straight year in less than 48 hours, and The Cotton Bowl was sold out in less than 24 hours. The Poinsettia Bowl had the largest crowd in game history with 39,129, an increase of 24% over last year's game while the Holiday Bowl had its third largest crowd in history, while recording its fifth straight sell out.

The '07 Houston Bowl recorded an event-record of 62,907 tickets sold at Reliant Stadium. It was the third- largest crown to watch a college contest in the city of Houston. The Armed Forces Bell Helicopter Bowl in Fort Worth, Texas, smashed its previous turnout highs with 40,905 in attendance. Alabama and Colorado had the most tickets sold (47,043) for the PetroSun Independence Bowl in Shreveport, La., since Arkansas-Missouri attracted 49,625 in 2003.

Bowl Community Impact:An estimated $1.3 billion poured into the community coffers from travel and tourism in the 32 clashes, and coaches and student-athletes took time out from their practice schedules to participate in a wide range of unique community service events that included visits to pediatric wards, children's hospitals, veterans hospitals, Boys & Girls Clubs, the Ronald McDonald House, Make-A Wish participants, fan fests with disadvantaged kids, and food distribution centers for the less fortunate.

The Chick-fil-A Bowl distributed $1.04 million in charitable and scholarship contributions, which doubled last year's record total of $531,000. The game also generates an estimated $30-35 million in economic impact for metro Atlanta each year, eclipsing the NBA All-Star Game, NCAA Women's Final Four and the SEC Football Championship game.

At the Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl, current members of the armed forces were admitted free and veterans gained entry at a 50 percent discount, Fort Worth, Texas. 3,500 troops also enjoyed a free feast of burritos, rice, beans and hot sauce provided by the Fort Worth-based Rosa's Café & Tortilla Factory.2007-08 Notable Bowl Facts and Milestones:

· Joe Paterno won his NCAA record 23rd bowl game in his 500th game on the sidelines.
· Missouri' Tony Temple (281 yards) and Rutgers's Ray Rice (280 yards) produced two of the three highest rushing totals in bowl history.
· Boston College won their eighth straight bowl while Utah won their seventh straight.
· New Mexico won their first bowl game in 46 years, last win in 1961 Aviation Bowl.
· The Mountain West had the best winning percentage (4-1, .800), while the SEC seven bowl wins (7-2 overall) was an all-time high for any conference in NCAA history.
· Humanitarian Bowl celebrated his 10th anniversary, flourishing as one of the premier events in Boise, Idaho.
· The Tostitos Fiesta Bowl hosted the 2007 College Football Hall of Fame Class with its Third Annual National Hall of Fame Salute at the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl.
· Both the FedEx Orange Bowl and the AllState Sugar Bowl will celebrate their 75th games next season.
· The Brut Sun Bowl just celebrated its 40th straight year on CBS and will celebrate its 75th Anniversary this year.
· FedEx has served as title sponsor of the Orange Bowl for the 19th straight year, the longest consecutive bowl title sponsor.
· Alabama (55 bowl appearances), Tennessee (47), Texas (47), Southern California (46), and Nebraska (44) kept the all-time top five positions in bowl appearances.
· Scoring reached all-time highs of 28.4 points per game and 392 total offense yards up 45.1 yards per game from '06 to '07.
· Games averaged eight more plays this year than last and produced an average of 379.8 yards of total offense.
· Vendors in both New Orleans and Honolulu virtually ran out of Hawaii gear and accessories with Allstate Sugar Bowl logos.
· During the week surrounding the Allstate BCS National Championship game LSU recorded its largest weekly sale of licensed football merchandise in history.
Bowl Ratings Highlights:2007-08 produced another banner year for bowl game viewing.

Especially noteworthy, all of the pre-Christmas Bowl game ratings increased this year, and all the games continued to produce strong interest from the powerful demographic of 18-49 year- old males. For the bowl season, ESPN delivered an average of 2,866,410 households while ESPN2 delivered its most-viewed bowl season ever with 1,502,134 households and 1,950,490 viewers, posting an 11 percent increase with males 18-49 and a 17 percent increase with males 25-54.

The Allstate BCS National Championship Game came in second overall in the Neilsen ratings, posting at the No. 2 most watch program among 18-49 year olds and the No. 3 most watch program among males teens between 12-17 year olds. Other highlights include:ESPN on ABC Bowl Rating Highlights:

· The Rose Bowl and Capital One Bowl averaged 11.4 million households, up 2% from last year.
· The Capital One Bowl recorded 9.1 household rating, making it the highest-rated Capital One Bowl in a since the 1998 Florida-Penn State game, which drew 9.2 million households.
ESPN Bowl Rating Highlights:
· The Chick-fil-A Bowl between Auburn and Clemson captured 4.9 million households, the second most- viewed bowl game on ESPN since 1990 behind only the 2006 Alamo Bowl, which attracted 5.5 million households.
· The Pacific Life Holiday Bowl drew 4.2 million households, a 7% increase over 2006 and the 2nd most watched bowl game on ESPN in 2007.
· The Music City Bowl attracted 3.9 million households, becoming the highest-rated and most viewed dating back to 1998.
· The Motor City Bowl engaged 2.6 million households, the most-viewed since 2001.
· The Las Vegas Bowl captured 2.4 million households, the highest rated since 2002.
· The Champs Sports Bowl won 3.6 million households, its highest rated and most viewed ever.
· The San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl also doubled its ratings from a year ago with a 2.00 adjusted Nielsen number.
· The 2007 Meineke Car Care Bowl garnered its highest ever, drawing 3.6 million households.
ESPN2 Bowl Rating Highlights:
· The Papajohns.com Bowl drew 2.2 million households, the most-viewed bowl game on ESPN2 this season and the second highest-rated bowl game on ESPN2, behind only the 2002 GMAC Bowl, which attracted 2.3 million households.
· The R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl attracted 1.6 million households, becoming the highest-rated and most-viewed New Orleans Bowl dating back to 2001.
FOX Bowl Rating Highlights:
· Drawing 23.1 million viewers and with a total of 52 million Americans tuning in to see at least part of the game, The Allstate BCS National Championship Game delivered FOX the second highest-rated and most-watched night of television of the season-to-date, only behind an NFL Wildcard game on NBC.
· All four 2008 BCS on FOX pre- games/games won their nightly ratings among the powerful 18-49 demographic. It was the first time that the Bowl Championship Series has delivered a network four nightly "highs" in the key prime time demographic.
· The 14.4/22 rating for the Allstate BCS Championship Game topped the season-to-date household average of every show in prime time. The current top-ranked show (through Jan. 14, 2008) for the season-to-date is Dancing with the Stars (14.0/20). The game beat all season-to-date prime time shows among all adults 18-49 as well. The 8.2 number among adults 18-49 topped ABC's Desperate Housewives (7.3), which is currently prime time's No. 1 show.
2007-08 Chronological Bowl Results:(Attendance) & [Household Impressions]:
· San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl: Utah 35, Navy 32, ESPN:(39,129) & [1,932,246]
· R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl: Florida Atlantic 44, Memphis 27, ESPN2:(25,146) & [1,561,000]
· Papajohns.com Bowl: Cincinnati 31, Southern Miss 21, ESPN2:(35,258) & [2,167,420]
· New Mexico Bowl: New Mexico 23, Nevada 0, ESPN:(30,233) & [1,888,695]
· Pioneer PureVision Las Vegas Bowl: Brigham Young 17, UCLA 16, ESPN:(40,712) & [2,390,098]
· Sheraton Hawaii Bowl: East Carolina 41, Boise State 38, ESPN:(30,467) & [1,415,395]
· Motor City Bowl: Purdue 51, Central Michigan 48, ESPN:(60,624) & [2,584,994]
· Pacific Life Holiday Bowl: Texas 52, Arizona State 34, ESPN:(64,020) & [4,223,682]
· Champs Sports Bowl: Boston College 24, Michigan State 21, ESPN:(46,554) & [3,561,309]
· Texas Bowl: TCU 20, Houston 13, NFL Network:(62,097) & [326,650]
· Emerald Bowl: Oregon State 21, Maryland 14, ESPN:(32,517) & [3,463,061]
· Meineke Car Care Bowl: Wake Forest 24, Connecticut 10, ESPN:(53,126) & [3,607,429]
· AutoZone Liberty Bowl: Mississippi State 10, UCF 3, ESPN:(63,816) & [3,986,674]
· Valero Alamo Bowl: Penn State 24, Texas A&M 17, ESPN:(66,166) & [2,568,881]
· PetroSun Independence Bowl: Alabama 30, Colorado 24, ESPN:(47,043) & [1,828,965]
· Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl: California 42, Air Force 36, ESPN:(40,975) & [1,928,556]
· Roady's Humanitarian Bowl: Fresno State 40, Georgia Tech 28, ESPN2:(27,062) & [745,082]
· Brut Sun Bowl: Oregon 56, USF 21, CBS:(49,867) & [2,554,678]
· Gaylord Hotels Music City Bowl: Kentucky 35, Florida State 28, ESPN:(68,681) & [3,883,875]
· Insight Bowl: Oklahoma State 49, Indiana 33, NFL Network:(48,892) & [458,918]
· Chick-Fil-A Bowl: Auburn 23, Clemson 20 (OT), ESPN:(74,413) & [4,919,331]
· Outback Bowl: Tennessee 21, Wisconsin 17, ESPN:(60,121) & [3,260,313]
· AT&T Cotton Bowl: Missouri 38, Arkansas 7, Fox:(73,114) & [3,974,484]
· Konica Minolta Gator Bowl: Texas Tech 31, Virginia 28, CBS:(60,243) & [2,960,799]
· Capital One Bowl: Michigan 41, Florida 35, ABC:(69,748) & [10,301,679]
· Rose Bowl presented by Citi: Southern California 49, Illinois 17, ABC:(93,923) & [12,531,880]
· Allstate Sugar Bowl: Georgia 41, Hawai'i 10, Fox:(74,383) & [7,850,519]
· Tostitos Fiesta Bowl: West Virginia 48, Oklahoma 28, Fox:(70,016) & [8,736,935]
· FedEx Orange Bowl: Kansas 24, Virginia Tech 21, Fox:(74,111) & [8,345,715]
· International Bowl: Rutgers 52, Ball State 30, ESPN:(31,455) & [1,528,141]
· GMAC Bowl: Tulsa 63, Bowling Green 7, ESPN:(36,932) & [1,096,521]
· Allstate BCS National Championship: LSU 38, Ohio State 24, Fox:(79,651) & [16,291,263]

ABOUT THE NATIONAL FOOTBALL FOUNDATION & COLLEGE HALL OF FAMEFounded in 1947 with leadership from General Douglas MacArthur, legendary Army coach Earl "Red" Blaik and immortal journalist Grantland Rice and with 121 chapters and 12,000 members nationwide, The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame, a non-profit educational organization, runs programs designed to use the power of amateur football in developing scholarship, citizenship and athletic achievement in young people. The NFF presents the MacArthur Trophy, the Draddy Trophy, presented by HealthSouth, and releases the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) Standings. NFF programs include the College Football Hall of Fame in South Bend, Ind., the NFF Hampshire Honor Society, Play It Smart, and scholarships of over $1 million for college and high school scholar-athletes.

For more information, please visit us on the web at www.footballfoundation.com