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Bowl Ranks #1 as ESPN’s Most-Watched Game

SAN ANTONIO, JANUARY 5, 2010 – The national television broadcast of the 2010 Valero Alamo Bowl between Michigan State and Texas Tech earned a 5.6 rating which translates into 5,553,630 households making it the #1 most-watched college bowl game in ESPN history.

The Valero Alamo Bowl broadcast’s rating ranked #1 among all ESPN bowls and will finish as the #7 highest rated game among all bowls across on all networks this season trailing only the five BCS games and the Capital One Bowl.

“Our hats go off to the leadership and strength of character of the coaches and players from Texas Tech and Michigan State,” said Derrick Fox, President/CEO of the Valero Alamo Bowl. “These two programs excelled for four hours on Saturday night and provided the capacity crowd in the Alamodome and record number of viewers on ESPN a thoroughly competitive and entertaining game. It’s gratifying that fans across the nation again tuned into the Valero Alamo Bowl and delivered tremendous exposure for the City of San Antonio and our game sponsors.”

The Valero Alamo Bowl has now produced three of the Top 6 most-watched bowl games in ESPN history. The 2010 game holds the #1 spot with the 2006 Alamo Bowl (Texas vs. Iowa) as #2 all-time and the 2005 MasterCard Alamo Bowl (Nebraska vs. Michigan) as #6.

The 2010 Valero Alamo Bowl, which featured Texas Tech’s 41-31 victory over Michigan State, was on Saturday, January 2 at 8 p.m. CST and kicked off in front of 64,757 fans which ranks sixth all-time in Alamo Bowl history.

Top Ten Valero Alamo Bowl Attendance

66,166 – Penn State vs. Texas A&M (12/29/07)
65,875 – #18 Texas vs. Iowa (12/30/06)
65,380 – #13 Penn State 24, #18 Texas A&M 0 (12/28/99)
65,265 – #22 Ohio State 33, Oklahoma State 7 (12/29/04)
65,232 – Iowa 19, Texas Tech 16 (12/29/01)
64,757 – Michigan State vs. Texas Tech (1/2/2010)
64,597 – #19 Texas A&M 22, #14 Michigan 20 (12/28/95)
62,016 – Nebraska 32, #20 Michigan 28 (12/28/05)
60,780 – Purdue 37, #4 Kansas State 34 (12/29/98)
60,028 – #8 Nebraska 66, #19 Northwestern 17 (12/30/00)

An estimated 40,500 fans from outside of San Antonio attended the 17th annual Valero Alamo Bowl resulting in a direct economic impact of $26 million. Since its inception, the Valero Alamo Bowl has hosted over 1 million spectators and generated a $305 million direct economic impact for San Antonio.

Bowl Ranks #1 as ESPN’s Most-Watched Game

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