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B1G opener between Northwestern, Purdue draws lowest viewership in a decade
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Fans of Purdue and Northwestern were glued to their television on Thursday night, honed in on the season-opening clash between a pair of B1G West teams.
Unfortunately, not many others outside of those two markets were paying much attention.
According to Sports Media Watch, Thursday’s B1G bout was the least-viewed college football season opener on ESPN in at least a decade. The game had 1.74 million viewers, which was down 66% from last year’s season opener between Indiana and Ohio State.
Ratings were not immediately available, according to Sports Media Watch.
The previously low also included a B1G team, as Wisconsin’s matchup against UNLV in 2011 had just 1.942 million viewers.
Northwestern won the Week 1 matchup, defeating Purdue 31-27 in West Lafayette.
Dustin grew up in the heart of Big Ten country and has been in sports media since 2010. He has been covering Big Ten football since 2014. You can follow him on Twitter: @SchutteCFB