B1G opener between Northwestern, Purdue draws lowest viewership in a decade
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.