Sep. 18—More eyes have been on Bronco Mendenhall’s Lobo football team so far this season than maybe any three-game stretch in UNM history.
Seriously.
More than 2 million viewers have tuned in to watch 0-3 UNM football this season, according to weekly TV ratings reports compiled by SportsMediaWatch.com, which has reported weekly college football Nielsen viewership figures for more than a decade.
The Lobos losses at home to Montana State and on the road to Arizona and Auburn — all televised nationally — each registered more than a half-million viewers.
The three 2024 season games also rank among the five most viewed UNM football games over the past five seasons:
—Aug. 31 — UNM at Arizona on ESPN: 953,000 viewers
—Sept. 2, 2023 — UNM at Texas A&M on ESPN: 794,000 viewers
—Nov. 26, 2020 (Thanksgiving night) — UNM at Utah State on FS1: 708,000 viewers
—Sept. 14 — UNM at Auburn on ESPN2: 662,000 viewers
—Aug. 24 — Montana State at UNM on FS1: 506,000 viewers
“Eyeballs on our team offer a chance for us to grow our brand,” UNM Interim Athletic Director David Williams said. “The strength of the New Mexico Lobo brand, we believe, is one of the strongest in the state of New Mexico and regionally.
“Even though we had good time slots, and we had the right TV stations and the right opponents for those broadcasts, I also think it had at least a little something had to do with us, because people are curious about Bronco in his first year, they enjoy the style of football we are playing and we’ve played well in those games, too.”
Obviously time slot, opponent and network play huge roles in any television rating.
The Lobos’ two most viewed games this year aired on ESPN against power-conference opponents and the Aug. 24 opener against FCS Montana State on FS1 had the benefit of being a standalone game — no other college football game on any network was being played at the same time.
In all three games this season, despite being two-, four- and three-touchdown underdogs vs. Montana State, Arizona and Auburn, respectively, the outcome remained in doubt well into the second half, leading many viewers at home or in sports bars to stick around through halftime — a huge factor in a game’s average viewership numbers.
That fact seems to be what pleases Mendenhall, who isn’t exactly a TV-ratings sort of guy.
“I see growth,” Mendenhall said this week of his team. “I see just so many things to be encouraged about. …
“Ultimately, it comes down to points … and then points given up, right? Those two things ultimately control outcome. But, man, there’s so much to be encouraged about it. It’s all over the place.”
How about those Aggies?
New Mexico State University’s two games this season that have been rated via Nielsen (their season opener vs. Southeast Missouri was streamed on ESPN+ and not eligible for Nielsen’s ratings) have had viewership figures of 160,000 (Aug. 31 vs. Liberty on ESPN2) and 64,000 (Saturday vs. Fresno State on truTV).
Of course a bowl game is what a team like UNM or NMSU covet when it comes to exposure.
The Aggies had 2.3 million viewers for their 2022 Quick Lane Bowl game against Bowling Green on ESPN and 845,000 for last season’s New Mexico Bowl vs. Fresno State on ESPN.
