Independence Bowl Viewership Sees Huge Increase

Apparently America was tuned in this year for the 2019 Walk-On's Independence Bowl as viewership across ESPN's broadcast platforms increased a whopping 36 percent over 2018.

Capitalizing on the 28 year history of the Independence Bowl's broadcasts on the ESPN family of networks, this year's broadcast had a total live audience of 2,772,258. That's up from 2,037,565 in 2018.

In a press release from the Independence Bowl, we're reminded,

The Louisiana Tech Bulldogs defeated the Miami Hurricanes 14-0 and was a one-score game until a J'Mar Smith touchdown run with 1:15 left on the clock.

The matchup between the in-state Bulldogs and nationally-revered Hurricanes also saw an attendance increase of 21 percent - up to 33,129 from 27,492 in the 2018 game between Duke and Temple.

This was Louisiana Tech's third Independence Bowl victory and was the first shutout in the bowl's history.

Of course, Independence Bowl officials are excited about the future of the bowl, as in October of 2019, the Independence Bowl announced a primary tie-in with Army West Point and the Black Knights will be featured as a primary tie-in for the 2020, 2022 and 2024 Independence Bowls