Pop-Tarts Bowl ratings reveal harsh truth about Notre Dame’s national pull
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Pop-Tarts Bowl ratings reveal harsh truth about Notre Dame’s national pull originally appeared on The Sporting News.
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The latest network television ratings delivered a blunt reality check for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.
The Pop-Tarts Bowl was played without Notre Dame anywhere near the field and drew 8.7 million viewers on ESPN. That total was more than every Fighting Irish game this season except the Labor Day night opener against Miami, which averaged 10.8 million.
The matchup between the BYU Cougars and Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets became the most-watched non-CFP, non–New Year’s Six bowl in six years. It also undercut a loud pre-bowl narrative from some Notre Dame fans who claimed ESPN would lose as much as $50 million if the Irish declined to participate.
Thru Dec. 27, @ESPNCFB's non-CFP bowl viewership is up 13%, averaging 2.7M viewers with several games reaching multi-year highs
🏈 @PopTartsBowl | 8.7M viewers⁰🏈 @PinstripeBowl | 7.6M⁰🏈 @taxslayerbowl | 6.0M⁰🏈 @RateBowl | 4.4M⁰🏈 @LABowlGame | 3.8M⁰🏈 @FRBowl | 3.1M pic.twitter.com/AH0LfKYINz
— ESPN PR (@ESPNPR) January 2, 2026
Well, as it stands now, the Worldwide Leader in Sports got the last laugh.
ESPN posted gains in more than just the affair in Orlando. Through Dec. 27, the network’s non-College Football Playoff bowl viewership was up 13 percent year over year, averaging 2.7 million viewers. Several games reached multi-year highs, including the Pinstripe Bowl (7.6 million) and the TaxSlayer Bowl (6.0 million).
Notre Dame’s absence was a choice. The ninth-ranked Irish withdrew from bowl consideration after being left out of the 12-team College Football Playoff, with the final spot going to the Miami Hurricanes despite Notre Dame being ranked ahead of Miami in every previous CFP reveal.
ND athletic director Pete Bevacqua defended the decision, calling it “the right decision” alongside coach Marcus Freeman. Bevacqua cited player health, finals week and team continuity as central factors.
From a branding standpoint, though, the ratings were unavoidable. Bowls without Notre Dame thrived, while the Irish no longer commanded must-watch status on their own.
For a program that has long sold national pull as leverage, the Pop-Tarts Bowl numbers told a different story, and one ESPN didn’t need Notre Dame to write.
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