Lobo football has been must-see TV. No, really. Check out the numbers.

Sep. 18—More eyes have been on Bronco Mendenhall’s Lobo football team so far this season than maybe any three-game stretch in UNM history.

Seriously.

More than 2 million viewers have tuned in to watch 0-3 UNM football this season, according to weekly TV ratings reports compiled by SportsMediaWatch.com, which has reported weekly college football Nielsen viewership figures for more than a decade.

The Lobos losses at home to Montana State and on the road to Arizona and Auburn — all televised nationally — each registered more than a half-million viewers.

The three 2024 season games also rank among the five most viewed UNM football games over the past five seasons:

—Aug. 31 — UNM at Arizona on ESPN: 953,000 viewers

—Sept. 2, 2023 — UNM at Texas A&M on ESPN: 794,000 viewers

—Nov. 26, 2020 (Thanksgiving night) — UNM at Utah State on FS1: 708,000 viewers

—Sept. 14 — UNM at Auburn on ESPN2: 662,000 viewers

—Aug. 24 — Montana State at UNM on FS1: 506,000 viewers

“Eyeballs on our team offer a chance for us to grow our brand,” UNM Interim Athletic Director David Williams said. “The strength of the New Mexico Lobo brand, we believe, is one of the strongest in the state of New Mexico and regionally.

“Even though we had good time slots, and we had the right TV stations and the right opponents for those broadcasts, I also think it had at least a little something had to do with us, because people are curious about Bronco in his first year, they enjoy the style of football we are playing and we’ve played well in those games, too.”

Obviously time slot, opponent and network play huge roles in any television rating.

The Lobos’ two most viewed games this year aired on ESPN against power-conference opponents and the Aug. 24 opener against FCS Montana State on FS1 had the benefit of being a standalone game — no other…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/lobo-football-must-see-tv-030100164.html

Author : Albuquerque Journal, N.M.

Publish date : 2024-09-19 03:01:00

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