Friday's Fiesta Bowl matchup between Ohio State and Notre Dame earned a 6.2 overnight rating, according to a release from ESPN on Saturday.
The 6.2 rating was up 35 percent from last season's Fiesta Bowl between Boise State and Arizona. By comparison, the Rose Bowl between Iowa and Stanford scored a 7.9 overnight rating and the Sugar Bowl between Oklahoma State and Ole Miss had a 5.3.
The New Year's Six (Peach Bowl, Cotton Bowl, Orange Bowl, Fiesta Bowl, Rose Bowl, Sugar Bowl) averaged a 7.1 overnight rating which is down 13 percent from last season's overnight average of 8.2. That's largely in part because the two College Football Playoff semifinal games — Orange Bowl and Cotton Bowl —saw a massive ratings drop from last season. The Cotton Bowl earned a 9.9 overnight rating while the Orange Bowl earned a 9.7. Last year's semifinal games earned 15.5 and 15.3 overnight ratings.
According to the release, the highest-rated market across the New Year's Six was Birmingham, Alabama with a 23.6 average for the games. Columbus came in No. 2 with a 17.3 average; Dayton was sixth (12.7) and Cleveland was seventh (12.3).
In Columbus, the game between the Buckeyes and Fighting Irish scored a 34.9 rating — ESPN's third-best overnight for a non-championship college football bowl game.
