How did Boise State fare in its first full season with home games airing on Fox Sports?
In its first full season since Fox Sports began broadcasting the Boise State football team’s home games, the Broncos averaged 341,333 viewers in six contests at Albertsons Stadium last season.
Fox replaced ESPN as owner of media rights to Boise State’s home games in 2020 through the Mountain West’s most recent TV contract, but the Broncos were only able to play three games on The Blue that season because of COVID-19.
All six of Boise State’s home games were broadcast on FS1 last year, highlighted by a 21-20 loss to Oklahoma State, which drew a 0.35 rating and 596,000 viewers, according to sportsmediawatch.com. The Broncos’ 23-13 win over Wyoming attracted their second-largest audience of the season, as 454,000 viewers tuned in and the game earned a 0.27 rating.
The Broncos’ most-watched home game in 2020 was a 51-17 loss to rival BYU, which earned a 0.37 rating and 680,000 viewers.
Boise State averaged 770,833 viewers in six home games that were broadcast on ESPN’s network of channels in 2019. Five of the Broncos’ contests on The Blue aired on ESPN2, highlighted by a showdown with Marshall early in the season, which earned a 0.9 rating and attracted 1.38 million viewers. One of the Broncos’ home games — a win in overtime against Wyoming — was broadcast on ESPN’s main channel, and it drew a 0.7 rating and 1.18 million viewers.
Boise State’s home games may have attracted a smaller TV audience under the Fox Sports banner last year, but the Broncos made up for it with their most regular-season games that were broadcast on a national network’s flagship channel since 2014. The program also enjoyed an uptick in attendance at home games last fall, averaging 34,681 fans, which ranks No. 2 in program history.
The Broncos played four games that were broadcast on flagship stations (ESPN, CBS and ABC), and all of them earned at least a 0.5 rating and more than 800,000 viewers.
Boise State opened last season against UCF in a game on ESPN, which earned a 0.5 rating and 841,000 viewers. The Broncos also played two games on CBS. Their 27-3 win at eventual Mountain West champion Utah State was just the second Boise State game broadcast on CBS in program history. It earned a 0.54 rating and 804,000 viewers.
Boise State’s loss in the regular-season finale at San Diego State was also on CBS, and it earned a 1.5 rating while attracting 1.19 million viewers.
The Broncos’ annual rivalry game against BYU was broadcast on ABC, and it attracted the program’s largest TV audience of the season (2.24 million viewers) while earning a 1.3 rating. Boise State’s most-watched game in the past three seasons was a 38-7 loss to Washington in the 2019 Las Vegas Bowl, which aired on ABC and earned a 1.6 rating while attracting 2.64 million viewers.
Boise State didn’t make the Mountain West championship game last season for the first time since 2017, and the title game’s rating took a dip. It aired on Fox for the second year in a row — featuring Utah State and San Diego State — and earned a 0.5 rating while attracting 816,000 viewers. The Broncos’ loss to San Jose State in the 2020 title game earned a 0.9 rating after attracting 1.42 million viewers.
Here is a look at TV ratings and audience numbers for Boise State’s games the past three seasons (* indicates Boise State’s road games that air on CBS Sports Network are not publicly rated, according to CBS Sports Communications Manager Harrison Raboy).
2021
Sept. 2: at UCF, ESPN, .5 rating, 841K viewers
Sept. 10: vs. UTEP, FS1, .2, 347K
Sept. 18: vs. Oklahoma State, FS1, .35, 596K
Sept. 25: at Utah State, CBS, .54, 804K
Oct. 2: vs. Nevada, FS1, n/a, 197K
Oct. 9: at BYU, ABC, 1.3, 2.24M
Oct. 16: vs. Air Force, FS1, .14, 289K
Oct. 30: at Colorado State, CBSSN*
Nov. 6: at Fresno State, CBSSN*
Nov. 12: vs. Wyoming, FS1, .27, 454K
Nov. 20: vs. New Mexico, FS1, NA, 165K
Nov. 26: at San Diego State, CBS, 1.15, 1.95M
Mountain West championship: Utah State vs. San Diego State, Fox, .5, 816K
2020
Oct. 24: vs. Utah State, FS1, .23 rating, 549K viewers
Oct. 31: at Air Force, CBSSN*
Nov. 6: vs. BYU, FS1, .37, 680K
Nov. 12: vs. Colorado State, FS1, .15, 292K
Nov. 21: at Hawaii, CBSSN*
Dec. 12: at Wyoming, CBSSN*
Mountain West championship: Boise State vs. San Jose State, Fox, .9, 1.42M
2019
Aug. 31: at Florida State, ESPN News, NA rating, 1.19M viewers
Sept. 6: vs. Marshall, ESPN2, .9, 1.38M
Sept. 14: vs. Portland State, ESPN2, .23, 391K
Sept. 20: vs. Air Force, ESPN2, .6, 895K
Oct. 5: at UNLV, CBSSN*
Oct. 12: vs. Hawaii, ESPN2, .34, 555K
Oct. 19: at BYU, ESPN2, .35, 571K
Nov. 2: at San Jose State, CBSSN*
Nov. 9: vs. Wyoming, ESPN, .7, 1.18M
Nov. 16: vs. New Mexico, ESPN2, n/a, 224K
Nov. 23: at Utah State, CBSSN*
Nov. 29: at Colorado State, CBSSN*
Mountain West title game: Boise State vs. Hawaii, ESPN, .37, 550K
Las Vegas Bowl: Boise State vs. Washington, ABC, 1.6, 2.64M
This story was originally published January 20, 2022 at 3:30 PM.
