57th AUTOZONE LIBERTY BOWL
MOST VIEWED BOWL ON ESPN OTHER THAN NEW YEAR’S SIX GAMES
The January 2, 2016, AutoZone Liberty Bowl game between Arkansas and Kansas State was the most viewed non-New Year’s Six bowl game on ESPN among households and the most viewed AutoZone Liberty Bowl ever on ESPN among households and P2+.
The AutoZone Liberty Bowl game and all of its related events were also massive successes with great attendance. All of the AutoZone Liberty Bowl’s events were sold out, including the AutoZone Liberty Bowl game. A crowd of 61,136 saw the Razorbacks defeat the Wildcats 45-23.
“This year’s AutoZone Liberty Bowl will go down as the largest economic impact of any sports event in the history of Memphis,” said Kevin Kane, President and CEO of the Memphis Convention and Visitors Bureau. “With the incredible popularity of all the AutoZone Liberty Bowl’s events and activities, many hotels were sold out across the city as thousands of out of town visitors descended on our community from Kansas State and Arkansas.”
While the AutoZone Liberty Bowl was impactful across the entire Memphis community, perhaps the largest impact was in the downtown and Beale Street area. On January 1, the day before the game, thousands of K-State fans packed AutoZone Park for the Wildcats’ pep rally. The festive events then moved to Beale Street for the AutoZone Liberty Bowl Parade and Bash On Beale pep rally and battle of the bands.
“The AutoZone Liberty Bowl set new records for Beale Street as thousands of visiting fans from Kansas State and Arkansas came to town early and celebrated on New Year’s Eve, New Year’s Day and on game day,” said Sandy Robertson, President of the Beale Street Merchants Association. “We’ve had many huge AutoZone Liberty Bowls over the years, but this was the biggest and best bowl week ever.”
