In his remarks to those attending the recent Idaho Grower Shippers Association (www.idahoshippers.org) annual convention, Idaho Potato Commission (https://idahopotato.com) President and CEO Jamey Higham once again talked up the benefits of the IPC’s sponsorship of the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl.
The Famous Idaho Potato Bowl, played annually on the campus of Boise State University at Albertsons Stadium, is televised by ESPN.
Higham said, “This year for the Idaho Potato Bowl we have a good date for it. It's on a Saturday, the 23rd of December, so it's going to be more of a holiday bowl. Last year we were in the middle of the week and school was in session for everybody, so our crowds weren't great. But this year I think it's going to be a great day.”
The game, which was on a Tuesday last year, drew just 10,122 fans as Higham referenced.
Higham said having college teams located closer to Idaho would help draw more fans. “We’ve got our fingers crossed that we're going to get some local schools,” he said.
The nation’s northern-most bowl game traditionally features a Mountain West vs. Mid-American Conference (MAC) matchup. The Mountain West has been represented in eight of the last nine games while the MAC has earned a spot in the game 11 of the last 13 years. In last year’s Famous Idaho Potato Bowl Eastern Michigan blasted San Jose State 41-27.
While the actual game attendance was more sparse than organizers would have liked, the game was still televised on ESPN and watched by an estimated 2 million viewers.
Higham pointed out some of the benefits of sponsoring the bowl game, especially in light of the fact that many of the viewers are the prime marketing target for the IPC. He explained, referring to a chart in his presentation, some statistics that make the bowl sponsorship very attractive to the IPC. Those include:
- 68 percent of males in the U.S. are college football fans
- 52 percent of females in the U.S. are college football fans
- In the 35-54 age demographic, 65.1 percent of males are college football fans
- In that same age demographic, 48.9 percent of females are college football fans
- In the 55 and over age demographic, 73.1 percent of males are college football fans
- In that same age demographic, 47.3 percent of females are college football fans
- College football is the No. 2 sport in the U.S., only behind the NFL
- 145 million fans are reached by college bowl games
- The college bowl season is the most watched two weeks on ESPN for the entire year
“So I'm pretty happy with our relationship with ESPN and the Idaho Potato Bowl,” Higham said.
The Famous Idaho Potato Bowl is scheduled for Dec. 23 at 1:30 p.m. The Famous Idaho Potato Bowl is one of 17 bowl games owned and operated by ESPN Events, a division of ESPN.