TaxSlayer Gator Bowl between Virginia and Missouri viewed by 6 million

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The TaxSlayer Gator Bowl game between Virginia and Missouri attracted 6 million ABC viewers on Dec. 27, a 20 percent increase over last year when 5 million watched Ole Miss and Duke. 

It was the largest viewership for the TaxSlayer Bowl since 2009, when Florida State played West Virginia in Bobby Bowden’s final game as the Seminoles coach. Virginia beat Missouri 13-7 to set a school record with 11 victories.

Viewership for Ole Miss and Duke in 2024 was up 47 percent over the previous year. The Gator Bowl now gets another double-digit bump.

“We’re so pleased to attract that many viewers to our game,” Gator Bowl President Greg McGarity said. “We’re appreciative of ABC and ESPN for giving us that prime time slot and it was a remarkable number. 

The Gator Bowl was competitive with the 6.2 million that watched Ole Miss and Tulane in a first-round College Football Playoff game and soundly beat the 4.4 million for Oregon vs. James Madison. The Gator Bowl viewership was second among all non-CFP games through Dec. 27, topped only by the Pop Tarts Bowl (8.7 million). 

“Our title sponsor has got to be elated,” McGarity said of TaxSlayer, an Augusta, Ga.-based tax service. We were happy with last year’s ratings and to exceed that by a million is great for them and great for the city of Jacksonville and the Beaches. 

McGarity said that was the case even with ABC’s glitch of showing “beauty shots” of the Jacksonville Landing, which was torn down in 2019. 

“It’s not like those few seconds dominated the entire broadcast,” McGarity said. 

The Gator Bowl’s attendance of 31,802 was a slight increase over last year and was competitive with the Pop Tarts Bowl in Orlando (34,126) and the ReliaQuest Bowl in Tampa (35,382), games played in larger cities that are more of a winter tourist destination than the First Coast. 

The Gator Bowl attendance beat other games in larger cities such as the L.A. Bowl (23,269), the New Orleans Bowl (16,693), the Game Above Bowl in Detroit (27,857), the Rate Bowl in Phoenix (27,439) and the First Responder Bowl in Dallas (8,671). 

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: TaxSlayer Gator Bowl gets a 20 percent bump in viewership over 2024

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