Strong viewing numbers in KC for Mizzou, K-State bowls

Does Missouri football mean more to a Kansas City audience than St. Louis?

It did Wednesday on a percentage basis.

The Tigers’ loss to Texas on Wednesday night pulled a 9.6 rating in Kansas City and a 5.7 rating in St. Louis, according to ESPN. Attention could have been divided in St. Louis with the Blues-Predators NHL game starting an hour before kickoff.

The top markets for the game: Austin (18.4), Kansas City (9.6), Birmingham (6.9), Tulsa (6.5), Oklahoma City (6.0), San Antonio (6.0), St. Louis (5.7), Dallas-Fort Worth (5.7) and Houston (5.3).

The game earned a 2.1 national rating.

Kansas City was the top local market for the Cactus Bowl, drawing a 7.7 local rating for Kansas State’s victory over UCLA. With more than 3.2 million viewers, the game marked a 43 percent increase over the previous year’s Cactus Bowl that matched Baylor and Boise State.

This story was originally published December 28, 2017 at 2:09 PM with the headline "Strong viewing numbers in KC for Mizzou, K-State bowls."