Rose Bowl May Be Losing Some Of Its Luster

Has the bloom gone off the Rose Bowl?

What used to be the New Year's Day college football bowl game isn't even the game from 2 to 5:30 p.m.

The annual matchup between the Big Ten and Pacific 10 champions has lost more than a third of its ratings appeal since 1983. Today's game matching No. 8 Washington and No. 17 Iowa could see the ratings hit an all-time low.

Keith Jackson, who will call the game for ABC, cites increased competition - especially from NBC's Fiesta Bowl - for the ratings drop.

``The Rose Bowl sat for so many years without a challenge, and finally the Fiesta Bowl dared to schedule themselves against the Rose Bowl (in 1989) and everyone discovered it is not that invincible,'' Jackson said. ``I remember having many conversations with ABC Sports executives trying to get them to schedule the Sugar Bowl against the Rose Bowl. They wouldn't do it, but there was never any reason why they shouldn't have.''

The Fiesta Bowl, born in 1971 and shifted to New Year's Day in time for the 1982 game, decided the national championship in 1987 and 1989. As the highest-paying bowl without a conference affiliation, it has been able to attract high-profile teams such as Nebraska, Miami, Michigan, Penn State, USC and UCLA.

But this year's Fiesta Bowl game lost luster after Notre Dame and Virginia chose other bowls after Arizona voters' rejection of a paid state holiday honoring civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.

The game had to settle for No. 18 Louisville and unranked Alabama (7-4).

Meanwhile, the Rose Bowl's ratings have gone through an almost continual decrease since 1983. That year, UCLA's 24-14 victory over Michigan drew a 24.5 rating and was seen in approximately 20.4 million households, making it the highest-rated bowl game. The Rose Bowl hasn't come close to matching those numbers since.

Ratings dropped in each of the next two years before experiencing a slight increase in 1986. However, the rise proved to be temporary, with the 1987 and 1988 games receiving 17.7 and 16.5 ratings.

NBC, which began broadcasting the Rose Bowl on radio in 1927 and had been televising it since 1952, dropped the game in July 1988, even though there were two years left on its contract.

NBC was losing more than $2 million a year on the game, said Aruthur Watson, NBC sports president.

Undaunted, ABC picked up the game, agreeing to pay out more than $100 million for the rights to televise the game for nine years.

But the ratings slide has continued. Last year's rating was 14.6, with the game being seen in 13.4 million households.

Jackson believes there's a reason: Pacific 10 and Big Ten teams have a built-in disadvantage when competing for a national championship.

``Independents will win the national championship nine out of 10 years because they don't play in snake pits and don't go to places where they don't like each other from six generations ago,'' Jackson said. ``Conferences have old memories. They cause things to happen that you would not expect.''

The Pacific 10 and Big Ten tie, first signed in 1946 for the 1947 game, will continue through 1997.

``I see no indication, nor have I heard any feeling or sensed anything but that the relationship will continue,'' Jackson said.

``So far, it has been a fairly comfortable arrangement for them. They do get $12 million in television rights money every year, more than anyone else gets. There's a certain security, in knowing who you'll have in your game. Nothing will change, until they get backed against the wall, and they're not there by any means.''

The 77th Rose Bowl will be facing more television competition than ever before.

There will be a record eight bowl telecasts today, guaranteeing football from the 8:30 a.m. kickoff of ESPN's Mazda Gator Bowl between Michigan and Mississippi to the approximate 5:30 p.m. conclusion of ABC's Virginia-Tennessee USF&G Sugar Bowl.