DALLAS, March 8, 2012- The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame (NFF) showcased today several impressive facts from the 2011 college football season, including top-notch television ratings and impressive attendance figures, that emphasize the strong interest in the sport by millions of fans across the country.

"In every instance, whether it's the regular or the bowl season, the numbers for college football show strong interest in college football," said NFF President & CEO Steve Hatchell. "College football fans have an unmatched passion for their sport, and the options for them to connect with their teams have never been greater. We are grateful to the conferences, bowl games and the broadcast industry for their creativity and commitment in delivering a first-class product that allows fans to experience the game in every imaginable way."

For the fifth time in six years, college football set a record for the number of people attending games at the 638 NCAA football schools with 49,699,419 fans turning out to watch a contest this past season. The total figure represents an increase of 28,524 fans over the previous record set last year and an increase of more than 32 percent, or more than 12.2 million fans, since 1998.

The 35 bowl games this season attracted 1,765,224 spectators to the stands (50,435 per contest), slightly less than the record mark set last year of 1,813,215. College football bowl games across all networks remained robust, attracting 127 million viewers to television screens to watch the 35 games and complimenting the more than 213 million people who tuned into the regular season.

The game has benefited enormously from the commitment of every major media sports outlet, including the Big Ten Network, BYUtv, CBS Sports, CBS Sports Network, ESPN, ESPN on ABC, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN Classic, ESPN3.com, ESPN3D, Fox College Sports, Fox Sports, Fox Sports Net, FX, the Longhorn Network, the Mtn., NBC Sports, Versus (now the NBC Sports Network), and multiple regional and local outlets. Throughout the regular and bowl seasons these outlets continue to capitalize on college football's ever increasing popularity to produce an increasingly dynamic product that engages fans on new levels.

Ranked among the top most popular sports in the United States along with the National Football League and Major League Baseball, NCAA Football counts 103 million adults as fans* or 44 percent of all US adults. Among adult college football fans, 61 percent are male and 39 percent female. Twelve percent are between the ages 18-24, 18 percent are 25-34, 19 percent are 35-44, 20 percent are 45-54, 16 percent are 55-64 and 16 percent are age 65 or over. Sixty-one percent have an annual household income of $50,000 or more, with 42 percent at $75,000 or more, and 25 percent at $100,000 or more. Thirty-two percent are college graduates and 61 percent are married, according to Scarborough Sports Marketing.

A Harris Poll also placed NCAA Football near the top of the favorite sports in America, tying Major League Baseball for second place with 13 percent of fans making the sport their first choice behind only the NFL, which leads all sports with 36 percent interest. The Harris Poll also found that college football had its strongest following in the Midwest and among college graduates with higher household incomes.

An estimated $1.6 billion was netted from travel and tourism during the 35 bowl games with another $282 million paid out by the bowls to conferences and schools. Coaches and student-athletes took time out from their bowl practice schedules to participate in a many community service such as children and veteran hospital visits, youth football clinics, Boys & Girls Clubs activities, serving meals to the disadvantaged, and visiting military bases, hospitals and memorials.

  

Regular Season Attendance Highlights

• For the fifth time in six years, college football set a record for the number of people attending games at the 638 NCAA schools with 49,699,419 fans turning out to watch a contest this past season, including home games, neutral-site games and postseason match-ups.
• The Football Bowl Subdivision posted its fourth-highest total ever with 37,411,795 fans in attendance or an average of 46,074 per game.
• Both the Football Championship Subdivision with 6,407,059 fans and Division II with 3,035,696 spectators established new high water marks for attendance while Division III attracted its second-highest total ever with 2,381,454 fans.
• Michigan notched its 14th consecutive attendance title with a new record of an average 112,179 fans per home game. Including away games, a total 1,218,043 fans attended a Michigan game, also the most of any team in the country for the 2011 season.
• The first night game in Michigan Stadium history, which pitted the Wolverines against Notre Dame, attracted 114,804 fans, the largest crowd in history to attend a football game, collegiate or professional.
• Michigan, (112,179), Ohio State (105,231), Alabama (101,821), Penn State (101,427), and Texas (100,524) all averaged more than 100,000 fans per home game. The other FBS programs in the top ten for average 2011 attendance were: Tennessee (94,642), LSU (92,868), Georgia (92,613), Florida (89,061), and Texas A&M (87,183).
• Thirteen Football Bowl Subdivision teams played in front of more than one million fans each during the course of the season, including home, road and neutral sites: Michigan, Alabama, LSU, Ohio State, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, Penn State, Tennessee, Texas, Nebraska, Wisconsin, and Michigan State.
• Among FBS conferences, the SEC attracted the most fans for the 14th straight year, totaling 6,369,898 spectators for an average of 75,832 per game, followed by the Big Ten with 71,439 per game, the Big 12 (63,265), Pac-12 (52,249) and Atlantic Coast (51,406).
• The Big Ten, Pac-12, Big East and Sun Belt all set total attendance records in the Football Bowl Subdivision while the Colonial, Missouri Valley Football and Big South established new marks for their conferences in the Football Championship Subdivision.
• Five Football Bowl Subdivision teams saw increases of more than 7,000 fans per game from last year: Louisiana-Lafayette (11,788), Arizona State (11,064), Stanford (9,954), Iowa State (8,251) and Temple (7,545).
• Appalachian State led FCS attendance for the fourth time in five years with an average of 26,211 fans per game while the SWAC won its 33rd attendance title in 34 years, averaging 12,944 spectators per game, followed closely by the Southern Conference (12,821) and the Colonial Athletic Conference (12,173).
• Morehouse College (Ga.) captured its first Division II attendance title with an average of 11,713 fans per game, and Hampden-Sydney College (Va.) collected its first Division III attendance title with 7,997 fans per game.
• Florida State set a Doak Campbell Stadium record against Oklahoma with 84,392 in attendance.
• Texas A&M set a record for football season ticket sales at 42,151.
• Oklahoma continued its string of sellouts, which now stands at 80 games and 6,537,545 spectators since it began in 1999.

Regular Season Ratings Highlights

• More than 213 million people tuned into watch a regular season game.
• College football games were the highest-rated primetime program on Saturday nights in 11 of 14 weeks this fall, according to Nielsen's "The State of the Media 2011 Year in Sports" report.
• CBS Sports' national coverage of the SEC ON CBS was the highest-rated regular-season college football package on any network for the third consecutive season, averaging a national household rating/share of 4.2/9.
• The SEC ON CBS notched the three highest-rated 2011 college football telecasts: LSU vs. Alabama with a 11.5/20 rating/share; LSU vs. Georgia in the SEC Championship with a 7.3/15 rating/share; and LSU vs. Arkansas with 6.3/15 rating/share.
• The inaugural PAC-12 Championship posted a 2.9/5 (4.5 million viewers), helping FOX win the night among Adults 18-34 and across all major male demos. Tune-in for the game was a 2.8/5 with viewing peaking at 9 p.m. with a 3.4/6.
• FOX's inaugural presentation of the Big Ten Championship delivered a 4.6/8 (7.8 million viewers), making it the highest-rated and most-watched prime program of the night among households and across key male and adult demos including adults 18-49. The game also ranked as the second highest-rated college football telecast of the championship weekend, behind only the SEC Championship Game on CBS.
• The Big Ten Network saw an 11 percent overall increase in HH ratings (Gross Rating Points) for BTN College Football (all windows) during the 2011 season when compared to 2010.
• The Sept. 17 game on ABC between Oklahoma and Florida State averaged 9,307,000 viewers, 6,608,000 households and a 5.8 rating, making it the number one show of the day and ABC's most-viewed and highest-rated regular season college football game since the Big 12 Championship in 2009.
• The September 10 game on ESPN between Michigan and Notre Dame, the first home night game in the 133-year history of Michigan football, attracted 7.541 million viewers and a 4.5 rating. It was ESPN's seventh most-viewed regular-season game ever and the most-viewed and highest-rated sports telecast of the day.
• The September 3 match-up between Oregon and LSU on ABC, the most-viewed and highest-rated program of the day, averaged 7,751,000 viewers while garnering a 4.6 rating.
• CBS Sports' coverage of the 112th meeting of the Army-Navy football classic scored an average overnight household metered rating/share of 4.0/9 in the metered markets, up 14% from last year.

Post-Season Attendance Highlights

• The 35 bowl games this season attracted 1,765,224 spectators to the stands (50,435 per contest), slightly less than the record mark set last year of 1,813,215.
• Rose Bowl Game Presented By Vizio produced the highest attendance figure for the post season with 91,245 spectators, continuing the longest sellout streak in college football dating back to 1947.
• The Allstate Sugar Bowl and the Allstate BCS National Championship attracted a combined 142,749 fans to New Orleans.
• The Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas notched the second largest crowd in its history at 68,395, ranking it sixth among all bowls for the past season.
• The AT&T Cotton Bowl attracted its third highest turnout in its 76-year history with 80,956 fans in attendance.
• The Valero Alamo Bowl's standing room only crowd of 65,256 produced the fifth largest crowd in the game's history and its fourth sellout in the last six years.
• The R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl set an attendance record with 42,841, a 46 percent increase over last year.
• The Chick-fil-A Bowl sold out for the 15th consecutive year with 72,919 in attendance.
• The Champs Sports Bowl hosted a record 68,305 crowd, notching the largest increase of any bowl this past season.
• The Insight Bowl attracted a record crowd of 54,247, and increase of more than 8,000 people from the previous year.
• The Famous Idaho Potato Bowl had attendance of 28,040, its highest attendance figure since 2005.
• The match-up between Notre Dame and Florida State helped produce the first sellout for the Champs Sports Bowl since coming to Orlando in 2001.
• Coupling the 68,305 fans who attended the Champs Sports Bowl and the 61,351 spectators at the Capital One Bowl, nearly 130,000 people passed through the gates of Florida Citrus Bowl Stadium in the span of five days.
• Belk Bowl attendance (58,427) rose 42 percent over last year.
• Little Caesars Pizza Bowl attendance (46,177) rose 42 percent compared to last year.
• The FCS playoff attracted 256,384 spectators for an average of 13,494 at its 19 games. The Division II playoff totaled 123,528 fans or an average of 5,371 at its 23 games, and the Division III playoff pulled 58,746 total fans or an average of 1,895 at its 31 games.

Bowl Season Ratings Highlights

• ESPN's telecast of the Allstate BCS National Championship attracted the second highest number of households (16,072,268) of any program in the history of cable television with an average of 24,214,000 viewers, also second best in cable history. The only cable telecast with a larger audience was the previous season's BCS Championship on ESPN.
• The BCS National Championship pregame and postgame shows earned impressive ratings with 7.7 and 7.9 metered market ratings, respectively.
• For the BCS National Championship, Birmingham averaged a 61.2 rating, best of all metered markets, and New Orleans averaged a 53.3 overnight rating, second best in the nation.
• Six bowl games produced ratings jumps of more than 20%: Valero Alamo Bowl (55%), Champs Sports Bowl (54%), Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl (42%), Tostitos Fiesta Bowl (36%), Insight Bowl (34%), and the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl (24%).
• College football bowl games across all networks remained robust, attracting 127 million viewers to television screens to watch the 35 games at the conclusion of the 2011 season.
• The FOX broadcast of the AT&T Cotton Bowl was the most-viewed non-BCS bowl with 8.4 million viewers for the Arkansas-Kansas State matchup.
• The Valero Alamo Bowl earned a 5.1 rating and averaged 5.1 million households, making it the fifth most-watched non-BCS bowl game in ESPN history and ESPN's top non-BCS game of the year.
• Notching a 3.5 rating, the Insight Bowl posted a 34 percent increase over last year, marking its second consecutive jump.
• The Fiesta Bowl posted a 9.7 rating for a 36 percent increase from last year.
• CBS broadcast the Hyundai Sun Bowl for the 44th straight year, with game between Utah-Georgia Tech averaging 4.1 million viewers.
• The Outback Bowl on ABC between Michigan State and Georgia was the second most viewed non-BCS game with 8.2 million viewers.
• Across all WatchESPN platforms - computer, smartphone, tablet, Xbox - the average minute audience for the BCS National Championship game totaled 261,000 people, up 40 percent over last year's game, and a record for college football on ESPN's digital platforms. More than 523,000 people watched the game on WatchESPN.com, generating 39.6 million minutes and an average minute audience of 227,000 people, which is up 20 percent compared to last year.
• WatchESPN.com garnered an average minute audience of 114,000 fans for each of the five BCS games, a 27 percent over last year, and for the entire bowl season, WatchESPN.com saw its total minutes (6.9 million minutes) and average time per game (59 minutes) increase by 31 percent and 28 percent, respectively, from the previous season.
• ESPN's college football content on the mobile web reached 872,000 fans and more than three million page views during the bowl season, up 15 percent and 11 percent respectively, compared to a year ago.

2011-12 Notable Bowl Facts and Milestones

• The SEC claimed a record sixth-straight BCS title.
• The Discover Orange Bowl set multiple all-time bowl records, including most points by a team with West Virginia notching a final score of 70, as well as 17 team Orange Bowl records.
• The Chick-fil-A Bowl match-up between Auburn and Virginia produced the game's 15th consecutive sellout with a crowd of 72,919. It also provided an all-time-high total team payout of $6.9 million, charitable contributions of $1.33 million, and an economic impact to Atlanta of $35.1 million.
• The Chick-fil-A Bowl became the first bowl to produce a mobile App for fans.
• The Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl topped $130 million in economic impact during its 10-year history, according to San Francisco Travel, and for the past two years the organization has donated one meal for every ticket sold or more than 80,000 meals.
• The Allstate Sugar Bowl hosted the 7th Annual NFF National Hall of Fame Salute, featuring the 2011 College Football Hall of Fame Class.
• The Allstate Sugar Bowl, staging two games including the championship, created an economic impact of more than $400 million in New Orleans.
• The Allstate Sugar Bowl has joined with Nike and Brees Dream Foundation to lead a $23 million overhaul of Joe Brown Park in East New Orleans.
• The Outback Bowl has eclipsed the $100 million milestone in contributions to higher education over its history with the 2012 game.
• The Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl reported a $22.2 million impact on the Nashville economy.
• The Valero Alamo Bowl between Baylor and Washington broke 10 NCAA bowl records and tied four others, including combined points in regulation (123) and most combined yards (1,391).
• The AdvoCare V100 Independence Bowl pitted an ACC team against a Big 12 foe for the first time in the game's history.
• The Famous Idaho Potato Bowl's title sponsor, the Idaho Potato Commission, received 4.3 billion marketing impressions from all Bowl activities.
• The Idaho Shipper Grower's Association donated three potatoes for every attendee at the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl for a total of 84,000 potatoes or 42,000 lbs.
• West Virginia QB Geno Smith, who grew up in the shadow of Sun Life Stadium, became the first person to play on an Orange Bowl Youth Football Alliance championship team as a youngster and then return to lead his college team to victory as an Orange Bowl MVP.
• Over the last six years, the BBVA Compass Bowl has created more than a $63 million impact on Birmingham, Ala., region.
• The Outback Bowl has the longest running title sponsorship of any college bowl.

2011-12 Chronological Bowl Results:

• Gildan New Mexico Bowl, ESPN: Temple 37 - Wyoming 15. (25,762) & [1.8] & (1,764,935) & [2,789,118]
• Famous Idaho Potato Bowl, ESPN: Ohio 24 - Utah State 23. (28,076) & [1.9] & (1,896,133) & [2,896,263]
• R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl, ESPN: San Diego State 30 - Louisiana-Lafayette 32. (42,841) & [1.9] & (1,866,953) & [2,346,886]
• Beef 'O' Brady's Bowl St. Petersburg, ESPN: Florida International 10 - Marshall 20. (20,072) & [1.8] & (1,748,660) & [2,171,184]
• San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl, ESPN: TCU 31 - Louisiana Tech 24. (24,607) & [2.4] & (2,407,941) & [3,105,912]
• MAACO Bowl Las Vegas, ESPN: Arizona State 24 - Boise State 56. (35,720) & [2.4] & (2,356,874) & [3,136,735]
• Sheraton Hawaii Bowl, ESPN: Nevada 17 - Southern Mississippi 24. (32,630) & [1.7] & (1,652,575) & [2,486,424]
• AdvoCare V100 Independence Bowl, ESPN2: Missouri 41 - North Carolina 24. (41,728) & [1.8] & (1,752,125) & [2,483,376]
• Little Caesars Bowl, ESPN: Western Michigan 32 - Purdue 37. (46,177) & [1.9] & (1,908,062) & [2,504,047]
• Belk Bowl, ESPN: Louisville 24 - NC State 31. (58,427) & [2.6] & (2,549,011) & [3,470,467]
• Military Bowl Presented By Northrop Grumman, ESPN: Toledo 42 - Air Force 41. (25,042) & [1.7] & (1,719,242) & [2,297,310]
• Bridgepoint Education Holiday Bowl, ESPN: California 10 - Texas 21. (56,313) & [3.1] & (3,080,522) & [4,263,257]
• Champs Sports Bowl, ESPN: Florida State 18 - Notre Dame 14. (68,305) & [3.8] & (3,763,487) & [5,228,226]
• Valero Alamo Bowl, ESPN: Washington 56 - Baylor 67. (65,256) & [5.1] & (5,061,964) & [6,923,194]
• Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl, ESPN: BYU 24 - Tulsa 21. (30,258) & [1.7] & (1,634,703) & [2,025,118]
• New Era Pinstripe Bowl, ESPN: Rutgers 27 - Iowa State 13. (38,328) & [2.5] & (2,458,783) & [3,218,730]
• Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl, ESPN: Mississippi State 23 - Wake Forest 17. (55,208) & [3.1] & (3,047,652) & [4,213,669]
• Insight Bowl, ESPN: Iowa 14 - Oklahoma 31. (54,247) & [3.5] & (3,445,238) & [4,811,875]
• Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas, ESPN: Texas A&M 33 - Northwestern 22. (68,395) & [3.1] & (3,082,157) & [3,903,219]
• Hyundai Sun Bowl, CBS: Georgia Tech 27 - Utah 30. (48,123) & [2.7] & (3,102,521) & [4,102,912]
• AutoZone Liberty Bowl, ABC: Cincinnati 31 - Vanderbilt 24. (57,103) & [1.9] & (2,154,919) & [2,966,830]
• Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl, ESPN: Illinois 20 - UCLA 14. (29,878) & [2.7] & (2,640,648) & [3,462,663]
• Chick-fil-A Bowl, ESPN: Virginia 24 - Auburn 43. (72,919) & [4.2] & (4,128,798) & [6,155,163]
• TicketCity Bowl, ESPNU: Houston 30 - Penn State 14. (46,817) & [1.4] & (1,005,425) & [1,394,684]
• Outback Bowl, ABC: Michigan State 33 - Georgia 30. (49,429) & [5.1] & (5,894,127) & [8,174,213]
• Capital One Bowl, ESPN: Nebraska 13 - South Carolina 30. (61,351) & [3.3] & (3,280,655) & [4,499,114]
• TaxSlayer.com Gator Bowl, ESPN2: Ohio State 17 - Florida 24. (61,312) & [2.2] & (2,127,066) & [2,946,857]
• Rose Bowl Game Presented By Vizio, ESPN: Wisconsin 38 - Oregon 45. (91,245) & [11.8] & (11,664,817) & [17,557,585]
• Tostitos Fiesta Bowl, ESPN: Stanford 38 - Oklahoma State 41. (69,927) & [9.7] & (9,603,930) & [13,684,053]
• Allstate Sugar Bowl, ESPN: Michigan 23 - Virginia Tech 20. (64,512) & [7.1] & (7,054,622) & [9,707,785]
• Discover Orange Bowl, ESPN: West Virginia 70 - Clemson 33. (67,563) & [5.3] & (5,216,492) & [7,174,457]
• AT&T Cotton Bowl, Fox: Kansas State 16 - Arkansas 29. (80,956) & [5.0] & (5,681,750) & [8,363,082]
• BBVA Compass Bowl, ESPN: SMU 28 - Pittsburgh 6. (29,726) & [1.7] & (1,706,442) & [2,010,202]
• GoDaddy.com Bowl, ESPN: Arkansas State 20 - Northern Illinois 38. (38,734) & [1.4] & (1,417,057) & [1,780,225]
• Allstate BCS National Championship, ESPN: LSU 0 - Alabama 21. (78,237) & [16.2] & (16,072,268) & [24,213,839]

The NFF would like to thank the following people for providing information for this release, including ESPN's Ben Baker, FOX Sports' Dan Bell, The Big Ten Network's Elizabeth Conlisk, NFF Correspondent Bo Carter, the NCAA's Gary Johnson, ESPN's Michael Humes, ESPN's Josh Krulewitz, NBC's Christopher McCloskey, Scarborough Research's Allyson Mongrain, ESPN's Dave Nagle, ESPN's Keri Potts, CBS' Jen Sabatelle, and CBS' Dan Sabreen.

(*Fan is defined as those adults who are "very, somewhat or a little bit interested" in college football)