Ronnie Stanley holds the Music City Bowl trophy following Notre Dame’s win in December. (File photo by Nick Goralczyk)

NASHVILLE, Tenn., – Representatives from the Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl announced earlier this month that this year’s game between Notre Dame and LSU, played on December 30 at 2 p.m. CST, delivered a 3.4 US HH rating on ESPN and an average of 5.3 million viewers. This was the second highest rating ever achieved by the Bowl, eclipsed only by 2010’s contest between North Carolina and Tennessee.  2007’s game between Florida State and Kentucky tied this year’s mark.

The game was tight throughout, highlighted by big plays and back and forth scoring.  In the end, Notre Dame prevailed on a 32 yard field goal by Kyle Brindza as time expired to win 31-28.  Notre Dame quarterback Malik Zaire was named the game’s MVP in his first career start. Nine Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl records were broken in this year’s game, including four by LSU’s Leonard Fournette. A total of 60,419 fans attended the game, the ninth highest nationally this bowl season and the third highest outside College Football Playoff level games. In addition, it was the fifth best attended game in the Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl’s seventeen-year history.

About the Bowl:

The Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl (501(c)(3) non-profit organization) is an annual post-season collegiate Bowl featuring the Atlantic Coast or Big Ten and Southeastern Conferences. Since its inception, the Bowl has produced over $250 million in direct economic impact. Televised nationally to millions of viewers and listeners on ESPN and ESPN Radio, the Bowl is Nashville’s Holiday Tradition. For more information, call the Bowl office at 615.743.3130 or visit the Bowl online at MusicCityBowl.com.