Army football remains a good television draw during 2025 season
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The American Conference posted a 5-4 record during the 2025 college football postseason, and drew outstanding viewership as well.
The Dec. 27 Fenway Bowl — with Army beating Connecticut 41-16 – drew 1.8 million viewers for its ESPN early afternoon telecast and peaked at 2.6 million. It tied for the fourth-highest viewership among the American’s bowl games and was the best in Fenway Bowl history. It ranked No. 20 among 33 non-College Football Playoff games this postseason.
The 2:15 p.m. Army-UConn game followed the 11 a.m. Military Bowl (2.5 million, peaking at 3.3 million) pitting East Carolina and Pittsburgh on ESPN, and played opposite an ABC doubleheader, with Penn State and Clemson in the noon Pinstripe Bowl (third-highest viewership of 7.6 million, peaking at 10.3 million) and Georgia Tech and Brigham Young in the 3:30 p.m. Pop-Tarts Bowl (second-highest at 8.7 million, peaking at 10 million).
This is on the heels of the 2025 Army-Navy Game on Dec. 13 drawing 7.84 million viewers on CBS (the network’s best number this season) — that was down 17 percent from the record-setting 2024 game (9.4 million) but ranking second among the eight Army-Navy games played since 2018. The 2023 Army-Navy game drew 7.18 million.
The Nov. 1 Army at Air Force game on CBS drew 1.03 million. The Sept. 25 Thursday night game at East Carolina (on ESPN) drew 891,000. The Sept. 6 Saturday night game at Kansas State (on ESPN) drew 873,000. The Nov. 18 game at Tulane (on ESPNU) drew 70,000. The Oct. 4 game at Alabama Birmingham (on ESPNU) drew 49,000. The numbers for the remaining telecasts on CBS Sports Network are not readily available.
The 2021 Armed Forces Bowl — with Army beating Missouri 24-22 – averaged 2.57 million. The 2020 Liberty Bowl – with West Virginia beating Army 24-21 — drew 3.74 million.
Bowl numbers: TV viewership
ESPN televised the vast majority of college bowl games (some airing on ABC), boasting its most-watched bowl season since the 2015-16 postseason. Not counting the College Football Playoff games, the 3.1 million average viewers across 33 games was up 13 percent over the 2024-25 postseason (2.4 million). The games on ABC drew an average of 6.2 million, up 24 percent over last season and second-largest mark over the past dozen years.
The most-viewed bowl involving an American Conference team was the Jan. 2 Liberty Bowl – with Navy beating Cincinnati 35-13 — drew an average of 3.43 million, peaking at 4 million. The game ranked No. 10 in viewership among the non-CFP bowl games.
The Dec. 26 First Responder Bowl — with Texas San Antonio routing Florida International 57-20 — drew 3.13 million, peaking at 4.8 million. It marks the largest audience for that bowl.
The Dec. 27 Military Bowl — with East Carolina beating Pittsburgh 23-17 — drew 2.51 million, peaking at 3.3 million. It was the bowl’s best mark since 2018.
The Jan. 2 Armed Forces Bowl — with Texas State downing Rice 41-10 — drew 1.8 million. peaking at 2.1 million.
The Dec. 19 Gasparilla Bowl — with North Carolina State beating Memphis 31-7 — drew 1.5 million, peaking at 1.6 million.
The Dec. 27 New Mexico Bowl — with North Texas nipping San Diego State 49-47 in a wild shootout — drew 1.39 million, peaking at 1.8 million. It was the bowl’s best mark since 2022.
The Dec. 17 Cure Bowl — with Old Dominion beating South Florida 24-10 — drew 1.18 million, peaking at 1.7 million.
kmcmillan@th-record.com
X / Twitter: @KenMcMillanTHR
This article originally appeared on Times Herald-Record: Army football TV viewership for 2025 season games
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